Discipline

Discipline is the practice of guiding children's behavior toward an acceptable direction as judged by parents, teachers, and society. Discipline can take many different forms, including corporal punishment, which is characterized by physical contact between the parent (or teacher or some other adult) and the child; time-out, where the child is removed from the setting in which the misbehavior occurred; and nonphysical punishment, where an unpleasant, but not physical, consequence follows the behavior. While discipline can take many forms, the results of many studies indicate that nonphysical punishment, accompanied by an explanation, is most effective in changing a child's behavior. Physical punishment sets a poor role model to resolve conflicts and deal with problems, and suppresses but does not replace misbehavior.