Smacking a child or spanking kids to discipline them affects the mental ability of the child. The American Academy of Pediatrics disapproves of hitting a child to discipline. Spanking is certainly not an effective discipline tool. Research shows that it has damaging effects on the mental development and cognitive abilities of a child. Many a time, parents just want to vent their frustration or anger through spanking.
Why Smacking a Child Is Wrong?
Research shows that spanking hurts children and produces deleterious long-term effects. It produces the following damage in a child:
- It makes him aggressive.
- He becomes an attention-seeker.
- He becomes defiant.
- It instills fear in him.
- It reinforces the unruly behavior.
- He becomes more demanding.
- It boosts his temper tantrums.
Going by the infographic of Parenticular.com, spanking is truly harmful, but very common amongst parents.
Here are some smart ways to discipline disobedient children without spanking.
How to Discipline Kids without Hitting?
Taking Away Privileges
The best way to make your child obey you well is to take away some privileges from him. For example, if your child refuses to take his bath on time or has his lunch being engrossed in playing games on his mobile phone or iPad after being warned several times, just take away the electronic device from him.
He will then lose the privilege of playing games on the mobile device, say for a week or so. Children hate being deprived of their privileges. Thus he would then have no other option other than listening to you.
Compensate with Household Chores
Every time your child makes you waste time because of his unacceptable behavior, the best punishment to give him is to do some household chores to make up for your loss. For example, if due to your child’s unruly behavior, you had to leave the mall or grocery store without shopping, make him wash dishes as his punishment.
This is to make your child realize that his ‘troublemaking’ behavior harms others surrounding him. He should make up for the inconvenience he caused to others. This realization can help him to rectify his behavior.
Give Rewards
Many parents try to discipline their children by offering bribes. This is a wrong approach, as bribes boost wrong behavior. Instead, give rewards to your child. Rewards need to be earned through good behavior and prior planning. This is definitely a positive approach as it would foster good behavior in your child.
Talk it Out
In the case of some children, conversations prove beneficial. If you can patiently talk to your child and make him realize the relationship between consequences and actions, he might become obedient.
For example, after repeatedly telling your child not to leave his toy in a driveway, he pays a deaf ear and waits for the consequences like a car running over it and damaging it. He can then realize the importance of obeying your instructions. You can give examples from real-life incidents to make him understand the consequences of his actions.
Offer Choices
Giving choices to your child is far more effective than spanking. For example, if your child is playing with the food instead of eating, give her the choice of either eating properly or leaving the table immediately in a polite but firm voice. This helps a lot as the child realizes that she will face unpleasant consequences if she does not listen.
Thus, with a little patience and thinking of innovative and logical ways, you can discipline without spanking. Smacking does more harm than good so try your best to refrain from it.
