Helping Your Children Develop Their Self-Discipline *

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required. Mail to: eagibbs@ureach.com We want our children to do the right thing, especially when they are out with their friends. We want to believe in them, but somehow, we don't feel certain that they would. Have you ever asked yourself why you feel and act that way? Maybe the answer lies in the fact that, although you intend to, you rarely teach them how to develop their self-discipline. Or maybe it is because your parents never taught you how to develop yours. Well, it's never too late to learn. Here are fourteen principles to set you on the right track: 1. Natural and logical consequences require children to be responsible for their own behavior. 2. Reward and punishment deny children the opportunity to make their own decisions and to be responsible for their own behavior. 3. Distinguish the differences between the punishment approach and the logical consequences approach to developing their self-discipline: