Punishment is one of the most methods used in rectification of behavior and instilling discipline. I would not hesitate to punish my children if I were a parent. It is established that effective disciplining of children helps them in moderating their behaviors. For example, children would not lie if they are punished for lying. Therefore, they would learn that it is wrong to lie. Punishment helps the child learn how to respect people in authority, such as the parents. Apart from instilling moral concepts of good and bad, punishing children has the following advantages.
Punishment helps the child to internalize certain routines that are helpful in their development. For example, sleeping time, reading time, and time for meals among others are some of the important routines all of which are critical in the child development. In addition, punishment helps the child to learn how to control desires and temptations. For example, uncontrolled eating of snacks by a child is bad for his or her health. Although such may not be a bad thing, if the children do it in excess, it may affect the child directly or indirectly. In general punishment helps in instilling discipline such that the child observes the dos and don’ts in the family and by extension in the society. For example, they learn the importance to exercise self-control while socializing with others in school, church, among other places.
However, at times punishment if not well applied does not work. It makes the children hate the punisher and themselves. Sometimes the children presume that they have paid for their mistakes once punished and, therefore, can misbehave again (Virginia Cooperative Extension, n.d). For the punishment to be effective, the right environment, timing, and the magnitude of the punishment have to be applied.
Work cited
Virginia Cooperative Extension. “Discipline for young children” . n.d. Accessed from http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/350/350-111/350-111_pdf.pdf on November 5, 2014.
