Teenagers are crafty, stubborn, and relentless. If they want something they will stop at nothing and no one to get it. With this is mind when disciplining teenagers we not only need to make a point but teach a lesson. Unless teenagers understand why they are being disciplined the punishment will be worthless and cause them to become more rebellious. This is why every parent with an unruly teenager needs to take a step back and ask the question “Are my punishments really working”. Here are a few suggestions on how to discipline teenagers and teach them a lesson at the same time.
1. Staying home
One way to discipline your teenager is making them stay at home instead of hanging out with friends or going to events. Most of the time when a teenager is forced to stay at home they spend the entire time in their room pouting and building up anger towards their parents. Instead of allowing anger and frustration to build make your teenager spend time with the family. Try to really engage them and talk to them about the offense they are getting punished for. Try to help them understand why what they did was wrong. This way they hopefully learn not to repeat their wrong behavior so that they don’t hurt themselves or someone else next time.
2. Community Service
If you teen gets in trouble and you are at a loss of how to punish them make them do community service instead of going to a sleep over or school function is a great way. Depending on what kind of community service you have them do they could really get a lot out of it and find new appreciation. One of the best community service options there is for teens is feeding or helping the homeless. If you do it with them or afterwards you can talk to them about how appreciative they should be for everything they have and how hard you work to give it to them. This way they will hopefully appreciate you as the parents and your rules more.
3. Chores
If you want to punish your teen by making them do chores, a great way to teach them a lesson is by making them do someone else’s chores. A really great way to teach your teenager about caring about someone other than himself or herself is by making them help someone else. If you have an elderly neighbor or someone who you know could use some help have your teen be the one that helps them over a weekend instead of hanging out with their friends. This will hopefully teach your teen the value in helping others instead of only thinking about themselves.
4. Really owning up to it
If your teenager is toilet papering a house and gets caught by the homeowners Smith Monitoring home security camera and gets caught I have the perfect punishment. Smith Monitoring is a company that specializes in home security systems. This punishment works anytime that your teenager does something that affects another person. A lot of times we tell teens to own up to their actions but don’t really make them follow through. If your teen was the one that got caught toilet papering the house then you should have them go up to the homeowner and confess that what they did was wrong and explain how sorry they are. This will teach your teen that their actions not only impact themselves but others around them.
Author Bio: Ally is a writer, wife, youth mentor, and health nut. Follow her blogs for all the current trends on home, health, and family.
