“Discipline is helping a child solve a problem. Punishment is making a child suffer from having a problem. To raise problem solvers, focus on solutions, not retribution.” ~ L.R. Knos

Education begins right from childhood and continues until the very last day of life. However, in recent times there has often been an overlapping of the idea of education and learning in the prescribed textbooks, which to a greater extent deprives education of its real essence. 

There has been a drastic change in the way students are taught and made to study. There has been a rise in the competition for being better than everyone else in almost everything which sometimes results in the cut-throat competition even for children in kindergarten. This gets stronger when parents make it a point to push their child to excel and become number one in every aspect and to ensure this sometimes they get hard on their kids which further results in yelling/scolding and punishing the kids.

Studies have shown that yelling is one of the eight discipline strategies that can make behavior problems worse and lead to a downward spiral.

Rather than getting hard on kids, parents can attempt several other ways wherein they can discipline the child because discipline is the most essential element of being educated. 

·Everyone feels good about being appreciated.

Whenever the kid has a win or a good result, in any event, congratulate him; acknowledge the hard work that he has put into it; encourage him to beat his or her records the next time.

·Make them aware as to why their education is important.

After certain age children understand why they need to study. Even though they have varied interests they are willing to do the basic minimum. Parents can attempt to remind them in friendly ways while not scolding them about their interest and inclination towards sports or arts or any other particulars. 

·What about kids who are too young to understand it?

Kids in kindergarten or lower classes do not want to be bound to textbooks and studies. They need a certain level of incentive to study or do their homework. Parents can take them on a short outing or spend a day with them playing or some activity that interests the kid when the child manages to study. This would make him interested and do the basics.

In addition to this while education is beyond books, parents need to understand that disciplinary action wouldn’t always lead to disciplining the kids. It is essential that basic manners can’t always be taught by scolding. While it is needed that the parent has to be strict up to a certain extent at times, it is the responsibility of the parent to realize that an alternative has to be found out so that the child understands better as to why he or she is being asked to do something.

More importantly, a child grows up with his environment and everyone there.

“Kids don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are,” said Jim Henson and one can relate better to it.