Some advice on discipline

This is an excerpt from my book CHILD CARE: From Birth to Eighteen.

Here are some tips on how to discipline your children:

1. If she misbehaves at the dinner table, declare a time-out for her, ask her politely to leave the table and sit against a wall or a corner with her back towards you. Deduct the time-out from the time allotted to her for the meal.
2. If she breaks an object willfully, restrict her from approaching you for a specific time-period.
3. If she shouts back at you or argues with you impolitely, tell her that she may not speak with you for a specific time-period and quarantine her from the living/sitting room area and ask her to study something and “give you her lessons” after a certain time.
4. Privileges like watching a favourite TV program, eating a favourite snack, doing a favourite activity, going out on a Sunday evening, getting a hug when she returns from school, buying her a favourite dress, letting her go “down” in the compound to play, and many more can all be restricted depending upon the situation and upon the consensus between both the parents.
5. Do not shout, make angry faces, physically beat or become violent while punishing. It encourages rebellion and aggressiveness in the child. Also, it does nothing to reduce the occurrence of the same mistake again. In fact, the child become “immune” to repeated corporeal punishment and a stage is reached where the parent gets “tired” of punishing and the child mocks him/her and challenges him/her to “do what you want”.
6. As far as possible, explain why your child is being punished in easy-to-understand language and follow up with the information of what the child could have done/could do to avoid the occurrence/ prevent repetition of the mistake.
7. Be role models yourself and behave in an exemplary way so that the child hesitates to do what she would otherwise have done.
8. Be consistent in punishing and as far as possible, be both parents available while deciding on the quantum and nature of the punishment.
9. Never issue empty threats like “Let your dad come and then we will see” if you do not intend to follow up on your threats. Else, the child will lose faith in you and start making fun of you.