Do you believe in disciplining your kids?

I´m a grandmother now. But when my daughters were children, we disciplined them. Free will is one thing and another thing is to think they own the world. I explained to them what freedom meant: rights and duties. And, by all means, it does not mean to step over someone elses toes. Everyone is entitles to freedom and respect. Sometimes talking is not enough. So, sometimes they were grounded. The type of punishment depended on what that had done. They are both responsible adults now.

I do believe that we should discipline out kids, because if we didn't then I think that they would basically run riot and do what they want. Kids need to be taught right from wrong, from an early age, otherwise I think that we could lose control over their behaviour in years to come. I also think that as parents we should be aware that when our children start going to school, they change dramatically when they mix with other children. I currently have a 9 year old, with a lot of attitude, and thinks that everything he says is right. He will argue, and have the last word, but before he started school he was so polite and grateful, and never rude. It was a shock to me when he changed... and now I am learning how to control him, with the discipline of grounding him, or confining him to his room for a while and even banning him from playing with certain toys. All works effectively, but it does not stop him from trying his luck now and again.

Disciplining is a must. It hurts sometimes to tell him he's not doing it right but we just have to. But we try to make it as pleasant as possible. The rod or the cane is obviously out.

For me, my oldest daughter is pretty good. I am very lucky! I do believe in spare the rod spoil the child. My oldest doesn't get many spankings at all. I usually raise my voice and she almost always does what she is told. My son is a little more active and tests me more. Of course it is his age as well (2) so he does get into more things than my daughter. He get's time out's and spankings more often. My youngest is a baby yet really but I will use the same form of discipline on her as well because my oldest turned out really good so far!! It's crazy but I am a Preschool Teacher and I can tell when a child comes to me if they are disciplined by just Time Out's or if they get Spankings! The one's that get disciplined more than just a " Time Out " are SO much better behaved! They act COMPLETELY different. It's amazing to me.

Takie, like a previous poster, I am now a grandmother. I did believe in discipline when my children were little and when my grandchildren are with me, they, too, will be disciplined. Sometimes, with my own children, the discipline could be time outs, getting grounded as they aged, or even spanking. I grew up with parents who believed and taught that the parents who spare the rod hate their children. So, of course, that's what I internalized as a young person. I did determine that I would not spank my children as much as my parents did me, but there were times when a spanking was the only discipline that would work. For instance, when my daughter wandered away from me in a shopping mall and actually hid under a rack of clothes while I was looking for her. I felt that a spanking was the appropriate punishment because this was a possible life-threatening decision she had made. She could have been abducted and killed or even worse before being killed. I had to let her know that this kind of activity was NEVER going to be tolerated and make the punishment severe enough that she would not think about committing such an offense again. When we were home, I had other options available to get through to her (although, one time when I put her in a corner for a few minutes, she went to sleep standing up and never even cared that she was standing in a corner. It didn't change her decisions at all!) Each child's personality determines what will work in terms of correcting unwanted behavior. Some do well with time outs. Some do well with not being able to play with their favorite toys or talk on the phone or go out to play with their friends. Some can only be corrected with "corporal punishment": spanking.