Lately there has been a lot of chatter about Positive Discipline. It’s great to see this unique way to parent gaining popularity. However, it’s important to not believe everything we read and hear about Positive Discipline. So what are the rumors and what is the reality?
- Parents who use Positive Discipline let their kids do whatever they want. This rumor is false. Positive Discipline Parenting is not the same as permissive parenting. Positive Discipline actually does encourage family rules that are created collaboratively between parents and children. Positive Discipline is kind and firm at the same time.
- Parents who follow Positive Discipline concepts have no control over their children. Well, this is true…the truth is no human being has control over another human being. We cannot make our children do, say, think or feel anything they don’t choose to. (This may take awhile to accept). But we do have influence.ย We do have control of ourselves and we can decide what we will do.
- Positive Discipline involves no rewards and no punishment. That’s unbelievable! ย Well, believe it because that is also true. As any parent who has tried knows, rewards and punishment only work in the short term. Positive Discipline is about long term parenting.
- Positive Discipline encourages children to be dependent on their parents. Not true! One of the key concepts of PD is toย not do for your kids what they can do for themselves. Children are so much more capable than we often give them credit for. Positive Discipline encourages us to explore and embrace our kid’s capabilities.
For many parents the reality is that the way they are parenting now is simply not working. On the surface it may appear that they are parenting effectively but if we look deeper, we see parents that are often frustrated, overwhelmed and confused and children who are acting out, misbehaving and feeling misunderstood.
There are really only two ways to choose how to parent. The first choice is to parent how we were parented. This tends to be the natural choice for most. Unfortunately, it is a different world now then it was when we were growing up. The old way of parenting just does not work with the new generation of kids. The second choice, which takes courage and requires more time and effort, is to learn a completely different way to parent that will help you feel confident and connected with your children. Open mind. Open heart. Welcome to Positive Discipline Parenting. And thank you for joining the iParent Plus community.
Stay Positive,
