Discipline vs Punishment
Discipline vs Punishment: Most of the parents have been considering discipline and punishment the same thing in the past and they have been using them as substitute of each other.
But, in fact, there is one major difference between discipline and punishment; discipline brings positive change whereas punishment generates negative aspect.
As parents, you should know that discipline is a set of rules to teach your child how to behave and act in order to become responsible citizen in an acceptable and appreciated way. Contrary to it, punishment is oppressive and cruel method to train your child and, you might have the knowledge that your child doesn’t like it.
The word discipline itself is a positive word and everyone takes it positively whereas the word punishment itself is negative and people take it negatively.
What is discipline?
The word “discipline” has been derived from Latin word “disciplina” which means teaching, learning and instruction, and “discipulus” which means disciple or student.
Respected parents, discipline means to teach or impart some rules and instructions to someone. It shows and explains to children that how to perform the jobs of life. It trains your child in such a magnificent and favorable sound way which brings positivity in him that he becomes responsible person by adopting rules of discipline.
What is punishment?
Punishment means penalty and it can be physical or verbal maltreatment in the response of your child’s mistake. You may have observed many parents who have been maltreating their kids on their mistakes. Sometimes, they reprimand or rebuke and sometimes they give physical punishment as well.
Physical punishment puts bad effect on the person who is maltreated and he takes it to his self-esteem which generates aggression, hatred and revolt that is dangerous for the person himself and the society.
Difference between discipline VS punishment
Discipline is the polite way of teaching by setting strict rules that are to be followed in order to develop positive behavior in your child. And, these rules are observed and appreciated by every sensible citizen.
Punishment is physical that directly attacks self-esteem and character of your child. As a result, it produces many social disputes which are dark spots in the society.
On the other hand, punishment is never entertained whereas discipline is not only entertained but also valued.
So, we can say that discipline is good and has positive results and to teach discipline, logical strategies are adopted.
Benefits of discipline
Discipline is a practical way that saves us from many psychological difficulties that we meet in the journey of life.
Through consequences method, we can put our child on the right track i.e. by saying, “If you respect other, they will respect you.” or “If you perform well, others will praise you”. Further examples of other people can also be given who followed discipline and achieved high niche in the society that provided them satisfaction in terms of respect and money.
Benefits of discipline regarding effective parenting are many but the most Important benefits are as under:
- Discipline makes your child responsible citizen as it brings responsibility that is first step toward success.
- You can make your child punctual and punctuality of time teaches her the lesson of doing right thing at right time that is positive thing and second step to success.
- It keeps your child active and busy in proper activities that are to be performed in the travelling of life which also lead her to success.
- By following discipline your child becomes practical and being practical, she believes in doing not in mere uttering, as actions speak louder than words which leads to success.
- This makes your child ready to face the challenges and accepting challenges makes her strong in order to face the difficulties in logical and practical way.
- It makes your child dutiful and achieving this quality of being dutiful, she becomes responsible. As a result, the people in society pay respect to her.
- It brings passion in your child and passion urges her to perform well in order to earn good name and fame by becoming successful.
- Discipline brings tolerance and I consider it the great quality which all of us should adopt and by adopting this ability means one has succeeded and found the purpose of life.
- Confidence and morale are the by products of discipline and obtaining these two pillars, your child can become strong and get success in this expedition of life.
- Discipline brings consolidation and when one gets consolidate position by obeying discipline, he is bound to succeed.
So, it is very beneficial for you and your child to observe discipline to enjoy higher level of success in this short span on this planet.
Obstacles that occur while imposing discipline
It is an acknowledged fact that whatever path you adopt, hindrances occur. What field you choose, you will have to face problems. Even the “Rose”, king of flowers, also blooms in thorns. As the saying goes, “no pains, no gains”. Gold has to burn to bring its charm and value. In this way, there come many hardships while maintaining discipline as well.
Some of them are as under:
lack of tolerance and experience
Everyone cannot impose discipline and get it followed but an experienced and tolerant parent can get positive results. And it has been observed that mostly, parents have neither experience nor tolerance that causes disturbance in applying and following discipline.
Behavior problems
It becomes very difficult to study your own behavior and set rules that are to be followed while imposing discipline. Sometimes as parents, you don’t have positive behavior which is very essential in this regard. As a result, your child is unable to understand your feelings. Negative behavior from parents’ side causes hindrances in maintaining discipline.
Lack of confidence
Confidence of,” yes, I can do”, is the belief that helps a lot to maintain discipline and sometimes, you as parents unknowingly may lack confidence and belief. Deficiency in confidence creates hindrance in promoting discipline.
Hesitation
Some parents might feel shy in following rules when they observe others who are not following. They think that if they follow the rules, others may laugh at them making fun of them. So, they are reluctant to follow that obstacle in maintaining discipline.
Fear
Some parents have fear that it is hard and difficult to follow rules and their body language won’t support or bear them.
Solution, how to avoid obstacles while imposing discipline
Every difficulty has solution and there is no problem without solution. So, there are many solutions that have been given by the scholars and psychologists.
Some of the solutions are as under:
Be flexible
Flexibility will adjust you as a parent to be comfortable so that you may comfortably handle the problems that come across while maintaining discipline of your child.
Be determined
To inculcate discipline in your child, determination is required to overcome the difficulties and achieve success because it brings regularity and punctuality that guarantees success. It also develops the habit of consistency that is considered a gateway to success.
Have belief
Without belief, it is very difficult to maintain discipline in your child and get success because life without belief is full of doubts and fears. If one has doubt and fear, one cannot have clear vision of what to do and what not to do.Discipline vs. Punishment
So, have a belief in your parenting style to implement discipline in your family culture.
Be regular and punctual
In some cases, if your behavior with your child is different, while in others, it is some thing else, then your child will not be able to pick your discipline strategy and she will be confused to do anything. So, be regular while maintaining discipline.
I want to say that if your mood is good, you forgive big mistakes of your child and vice versa. To instill disciplined life in your child, you yourself will have to spend a full-fledged disciplined life.
In a nutshell
After conducting a thorough research, it has been observed that punishment has never ever been supported in any effective parenting style because it produces fear in the mind of child.
You as parents should learn the importance of discipline while rearing children. Read time and again this article to have a grip on discipline strategies and be a loveable parent for your child. Discipline implementation is of great value and its ultimate result is success and happiness not only for the child but also for the parents and whole family.
Discipline vs Punishment Quotes
“When a child hits a child, we call it aggression. When a child hits an adult, we call it hostility. When an adult hits an adult, we call it assault. When an adult hit a child, we call it discipline.” –Haim G. Ginott
“We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.” –Henry Cloud
“Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it.” -Harold Hulburt
“I may not be able to give my kids everything they want but I give them what they need. Love, time, and attention. You can’t buy those things.” –Nishan Panwar
“Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” –Robert Fulghum
“If we don’t shape our kids, they will be shaped by outside forces that don’t care what shape our kids are in.”-Dr. Louise Hart
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” –Jim Valvano
“Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.” –Bill Ayer
“By loving them for more than their abilities we show our children that they are much more than the sum of their accomplishments.” –Eileen Kennedy-Moore
“Play helps build a warm relationship between family members and to create a bank of positive feelings and experiences that can be drawn upon in times of conflict. Through play, you can help your children solve problems, test out ideas, and explore their imaginations.” –Carolyn Webster-Stratton
“A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to.”-Robert Brault
“Encourage and support your kids because children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.” -Lady Bird Johnson
“As your kids grow up, they may forget what you said, but they won’t forget how you made them feel.” –Kevin Heath
