Welcome to Gentle Discipline. This forum has a specific aim: to help parents learn and apply gentle discipline methods in raising their children.

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Effective discipline is based on loving guidance. It is based on the belief that children are born innately good and that our role as parents is to nurture their spirits as they learn about limits and boundaries, rather than to curb their tendencies toward wrongdoing. Effective discipline presumes that children have reasons for their behavior and that cooperation can be engaged to solve shared problems.

Hitting is never the best way to teach a child. Even in the case of real danger - as when a child runs out into the road - you can grab him, sit him down, look him in the eyes, and tell him why he must never do that again. The panic in your voice will communicate your message much more effectively than any spanking. You can be dramatic without being abusive.

'Natural Family Living' by Peggy O'Mara

Please appreciate that this forum is not a place to uphold or advocate violence against children. Things that constitute violence toward a child are things like hitting, spanking, humiliating, shaming, screaming, prolonged isolation, basically things that are intended to cause physical or emotional pain. We do not allow discussion that promotes or defends such behavior. Posts of that nature will be edited by the member upon request or will be removed.

We can allow discussion about setting limits/boundaries as a part of Gentle Discipline. Interpreting punishment can be tricky sometimes because what some might see as punishment others might see as a natural consequence or a learning tool. Overall Mothering regards Gentle Discipline as a collection of lots of different approaches with a common thread that is the absence of violence. We do not embrace a particular parenting philosophy so our community may share and suggest different thinking and ideas that are based in a particular philosophy but there should be no defining of Gentle Discipline as such.

Please feel free to discuss your problems and needs with the intent to learn more about Gentle Discipline.