Teenage Discipline Requires A Sense Of Objectivity
Many parents struggle with the problem of disciplining and punishing their children and this can be particularly true when it come to teenage discipline.
We are all familiar with punishment and know only too well that poor performance or bad behavior often results in our being punished. For example, if you don't study for an examination then your poor performance is punished by the award of a low score. Similarly, if you don't perform well at work you're likely to find that your promotion is delayed or that you don't receive an expected pay rise. If you enjoy yourself a little too much and end up being discovered drunk and disorderly in a public place then it's quite likely that you'll be punished by spending a night in a police cell and then receive a fine from the local court the following morning.
Punishment is simply one side of the justice equation and the foundation of the justice system is to weight the facts of a case with care and then to render a fair judgment and hand down an appropriate punishment.
The understanding that every action has consequences and that these can sometimes be unpleasant or painful is a lesson which we have learned and which we need to pass on to our children. However, teaching our children this lesson, especially a teenager, can be difficult.
Before you try to tackle this particular problem it is important to realize that it will require considerably objectivity on your part, together with a sense of proportion. The courts have to separate out fact from fiction to get to the truth and then respond in an appropriate manner and as parents we need to approach discipline in much the same way.
It will probably help at this point if we look at an example.
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