Discipline

Since no child's behavior is perfect all of the time, discipline is an important way to teach children self-control and what is expected of them as a family member, a playmate, or a student in a classroom. The primary goal of discipline is to teach these important lessons to children, not to punish them. When adults need to stop a child's bad behavior, they should to do it with self-control and without violence.

Whether at home or in the classroom, adults can establish an atmosphere where children can get attention for doing the right thing—not the wrong thing. To do this, they need to take the time to praise and reward. They need to establish a safe environment for playing and sharing. They need to establish simple rules that children understand. When the rules are broken, adults need to step in, calm the child down, then discuss alternative nonviolent ways to resolve the conflict with appropriate sanctions for the behavior.