Discipline Education: 5 Skills Parents Need
Having children is a challenge for all parents. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve read, watched, and heard. When it comes to successfully raising children, you are certainly not alone if you sometimes feel overwhelmed. Because it’s really not easy. This is especially true when it comes to teaching children the right discipline.
For this in particular, parents need a number of skills. Because without them it is not easy to pass this virtue on to your offspring.
How easy it is to use these skills depends, of course, on the child’s age, behavior and situation. But as is so often the case: Practice makes perfect. And in addition, parenting guides, courses, support groups, or the like can provide excellent help in improving these skills.
What is certain is that there are certain things that parents should definitely bring with them when bringing up children. Only in this way will they be able to convey discipline effectively.
In the following we will introduce you to these skills and give you a little more information about them.
Teaching discipline through the ability to lead by example
Many parents try to teach their children certain values and disciplines. But then they themselves often behave very differently.
Of course, this is not at all effective in achieving a successful parenting. Rather, it would be the best way to teach your offspring to do things exactly wrong. Because children learn primarily from what they see and not from what they hear.
Hence, one of the most important skills parents should have is: they must be able to manage their own behavior appropriately. Because they should set a good example.
Even if you justify yourself for any wrongdoing in front of your child, this is usually not conducive to a successful upbringing. Because for the child the contradictions between what he sees and what he hears do not give a good picture of his parents.
As a result, they lose their authority. And it can even cause the children to lose respect for their parents.
Teaching discipline through the ability to strike a balance between security and freedom
Of course, your children’s safety is a fundamental issue. Even if all parents feel the same way, it is reflected in very different ways in their upbringing.
Some tend to overprotect their offspring. That means they keep their children away from any possible source of danger. Others, on the other hand, grant their pupils a great deal of freedom because they want the best for them.
But it is necessary that parents are able to find a healthy balance between these two extremes.
With this in mind, it is important that trust plays a major role in the upbringing of children. Because in this way it is possible for them to experience the natural consequences of their behavior.
In addition, parents need to teach them how to make correct decisions. In doing so, the children should learn to pay attention not only to the possible immediate enjoyment but also to the effects on others.
Teaching discipline through the ability to set reasonable boundaries
In order to instill the right discipline in parenting, the following ability of parents is also essential: They must be able to set appropriate boundaries for their children.
Even if that provokes the protest of the son or daughter. Such limits mean that the child can follow clear rules. This also means that parents use consistent strategies to enforce them. Because these limits and rules must also be respected.
And that doesn’t just apply to the next generation. Parents must also respect them. They should always be an example of self-discipline and a sense of responsibility to their children.
For example, things like smoking or drinking alcohol in front of the children do not necessarily help set them ahead as models of discipline.
This also includes behaviors like this: Openly showing that you are overtired as a parent because you are not paying enough attention to your sleep. Or using swear words and the like in the presence of the children. Overeating or unhealthy eating will also not show your child how to be disciplined and responsible.
Teaching discipline through the ability to properly deal with stress
Dealing with stress properly is one of the most important skills parents should bring with them. Because then they are much more successful in bringing up discipline to their child.
Stressed parents are more likely to scream and thus also put their children under stress. They are also more likely to resort to punishment in their upbringing rather than relying on the teaching of discipline.
In addition, a stressed parent is more likely to cause even more behavior problems in the children. And that in turn leads to increased pressure on the parents and new stress.
Teaching discipline through the ability to formulate clear expectations
Children may not understand what is expected of them. And so it is often not possible for them to meet the expectations of their parents. The most effective parents are able to be very clear about what to expect from their children. In such a way that they can understand it.
In addition, they only ask their offspring to do things that they know they can actually do.
Therefore, one of the most important skills for parents is that they have clear goals themselves and that these are achievable. Because in this way they give their children an example of perseverance and willingness to perform. Likewise for a good and efficient use of time and stress. And they teach them the importance of having good self-confidence.
In addition, they can empathize better with their children when they are frustrated or unmotivated.
