No matter what your religious background, if you want your child to grow up in righteousness and respect the religion while behaving well, religious discipline may be the best option for you and your family. Religious discipline allows you to instill spiritual knowledge and precepts within your child while still appropriately disciplining him for misbehavior. Whether you take your disciplinary ideas from your religious tome or use prayer and forgiveness as a way to modify your child's behavior, religious discipline can be an effective way to help your child make better choices.
Prayer and Meditation
Prayer and meditation are facets of many religions, and you can use them to discipline your misbehaving child. Expanding upon the common punishment of timeout, instruct your child to pray and meditate on what she did wrong during her timeout. Tell her she should think seriously about what she did and why it was wrong. If your child needs help, spend some time talking to her about why God would be disappointed in her wrongdoings.
Bible Verses
In Barbara Kingsolver's bestselling novel "The Poisonwood Bible," the religious father of four girls has them write out Bible pages as a form of discipline for misbehaving. The last verse they copy is a verse that explains what the offending sin was. Although you may not want to be so zealous with your Bible verses, you may choose a verse from your religious tome that speaks of your child's misbehavior and have him copy or memorize it to help instill in him why the behavior was wrong.
Confession
If your particular religion offers confession with a member of the clergy, take your child to confession and have her spend some time with the clergy member, explaining what was done and talking about why it was wrong. Confession can help your child realize the error of her ways as she becomes accountable to someone other than you after misbehaving, says AllAboutParenting.org. It also helps set a powerful precedent for confession all through her life.
Corporal Punishment
Debate over the necessity of corporal punishment elicits argument within the religious community. The King James Bible explicitly states in Proverbs that parents should "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." The Islamic Qur'an notes that corporal punishment should be used swiftly against offenders. Only you and your family, along with the help of your religious leaders, can decide whether spanking a child is the right course of action, remembering that excessive corporal punishment can be construed as child abuse.
Rewards and Praise
Give plenty of praise to smaller children who are still learning about appropriate behavior. The King James Bible says in Ephesians 6:1, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." For smaller children, teach them the proper way to act by rewarding and showing love when they behave righteously.
References
- All About Parenting: How Should a Christian Discipline Children?
- "The Poisonwood Bible"; Barbara Kingsolver; 1998
- "The Qur'an: An Introduction"; Abdullah Saeed; 2008
- Aetheling: Christian Discipline
- Rock Solid Christian Family: Toddler Discipline--Setting Boundaries God's Way
