GUIDELINES FOR PARENTAL DISCIPLINE
1. NEVER disagree about discipline in front of the children.
2. NEVER give an order, request or command without being able to enforce it at the time.
3. Be CONSISTENT, that is, reward or punish the same behavior in the same manner as much as possible.
4. AGREE on what behavior is desirable and not desirable.
5. AGREE on how to respond to undesirable behavior.
6. Make it as CLEAR as possible what the child is to expect if he or she performs the undesirable behavior.
7. Make it very CLEAR what the undesirable behavior is. It is not enough to say “Your room is messy.” Messy should be specified in terms of exactly what is meant: “You’ve left dirty clothes on the floor, dirty plates on your desk, and your bed is not made.”
8. Once you have stated your position and the child attacks the position, do not keep defending yourself. Just RESTATE the position once more and then stop responding to the attacks.
9. Remember that YOUR BEHAVIOR serves as a model for your children’s behavior.
10. If one of you is disciplining a child and the other enters the room, that other person should not step in on the argument in progress.
11. Reward DESIRABLE behavior as much as possible by verbal praise, touch or something tangible such as a toy, food or money.
12. Both of you should have an equal share in the responsibility of discipline as much as possible.