Parenting encompasses discipline. While we hate to think about doling out some form of punishment for a disobedient act, we all realize that some form of atonement is needed from a child to help them learn a little better. In other words a child that is constantly able to get away with things may not develop morals or ethics. They may be of the opinion that they can have anything they want no matter what they do. Parenting is about establishing love, care, morals, ethics, and of course letting the child develop their personality. When you are discussing discipline there are many factors to think about.
The old school of discipline believed that spanking was the appropriate measure of how to raise a child. Today parents and many believe that spanking a child is cruel and should not be allowed. In fact many see this as abusive behavior. While it is hard to argue on both sides there are methods that will help the child learn ethics and morals as well as proper behavior.
With discipline you have to decide what the child will understand at their age, and what you can feel comfortable with. In other words you don’t want to punish the child and then five minutes later change your mind. You have to stand firm with any discipline option you choose. You also have to know the child. A stubborn child that refuses to eat what you have cooked probably doesn’t mind if you send them to bed without food. It is a principle with them. They refuse to eat, they don’t want the food, and rather than weaken and determine you as right for punishing them they are going to go to bed hungry. This is not going to be every child or even every stubborn child, but the point is the child needed to have sustenance, and rather than bend the child went to bed hungry as that was your rule. There are perhaps other methods that you could use in a situation like this, but cooking two meals just because the child doesn’t like the food is not a viable option.
Discipline is going to change as your child grows older. In other words a small child may not understand what you are disciplining them for, but an older teenager is going to understand exactly what they have done, and this means the parenting option should be a punishment that fits the crime. For example, recently in the news a mother bought a car for her 19 year old son. She gave him two rules for the car. When he broke the rule, she sold the car and nationalized her story as an example to other parents. The overwhelming response was that this mother did the right thing. The teenager of course balked. The point is the parent is going to make the decisions on discipline, and they should enforce the rules they have made in a consistent manner in order to create the balance a child needs.