Discipline is not necessarily about punishment. It is about guiding children’s behaviour. Children learn through the actions of their parents hence, it’s important for parents to model appropriate behaviour in order to build a positive relationship with their dependent as their actions can impact the child’s behaviour and manners. Discipline is an important responsibility as parents must provide consequences for poor behaviour of their dependent in order for dependents to reflect on their actions.
How a parent disciplines their children depends on their age. For example a parent may discipline their 5 year old to place their toys in the correct boxes when finished playing with them. If the dependent doesn’t not listen to what they were required to do, the parent should communicate with the child in order to understand the reasons behind their dependent’s action. The parent may give their dependent another chance before setting consequences. This enables a parent to contribute in building a positive relationship with their dependent as it allows the dependent to justify their actions before a consequence is made. This also satisfies the dependent’s emotional well-being as they are assured that their parents loves them and has trust in them hence providing them with more chances to become a better person.
However if a 7 year old breaks a window with their soccer ball after being told not to play in the house, a parent as a consequence may confiscate their soccer ball until they apologise for their action. This contributes to parents building a positive relationship with their dependent as they are allowing their dependent to reflect on their action to understand why this punishment has been made to them. With a better understanding, the dependent will apologise for their behaviour and may not do the same thing again as they have reflected upon their behaviour instead of the parent telling what they did wrong. This enhances the dependent’s emotional well-being as they feel that they are mature enough to understand what they did wrong instead of being told by their parents which enhances dependent’s self-confidence as it teaches them independence.
Therefore it is important for parents to discipline their dependent as it’s an important responsibility that contributes to building a positive relationship with their dependent as appropriate behaviour is being modelled by their dependent. However parents must take into consideration that they should not always give consequence to their dependent for doing something wrong as this can prevent them from developing as they won’t independently learn from their mistakes.