tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416089578031996468.post5055076966772960975..comments2023-11-09T07:13:39.461+10:30Comments on Musings: Kids are worth it! part 1 of 2Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235980969755979085noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416089578031996468.post-68297882039371914912011-03-06T15:25:25.945+10:302011-03-06T15:25:25.945+10:30Yes, thanks Wendy. I think I was trying to work ou...Yes, thanks Wendy. I think I was trying to work out the ethics of it. (Perhaps a result of not having kids is approaching this somewhat theoretically.) How much of punishment is for discipline and how much is for justice? It sounds like you're suggesting that that may be a false dichotomy.<br /><br />I was trying to think of some examples from the Bible to bring to it. For example, experiencing consequences in Romans 1 seems to be geared more towards punishment than discipline. But discipline in Heb 12 isn't necessarily because we've done something wrong. Then again, perhaps these are different categories of discipline / punishment from parenting?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416089578031996468.post-66777144859834503292011-03-05T15:06:31.807+10:302011-03-05T15:06:31.807+10:30Tamie,
It's certainly a question that could o...Tamie,<br /><br />It's certainly a question that could open a whole can of worms, and is the subject of a number of books!<br /> <br />Briefly, I would say that discipline covers much of parenting - the teaching and training of our children to grow and develop into mature and godly adults. Part of that discipline may include punishment. <br /><br />I see the point of the blog post you mentioned, and I particularly see her point that discipline and active training actually take more time, patience and energy than a simple punishment. That post seemed to have narrow definition of punishment, which makes it easier to disregard punishment at many points. <br /><br />I would probably take a slightly broader view of punishment, if you suffer the natural consequences of an action, it could still be construed as a punishment, even it is also a logical consequence. eg. you smash the car, the natural consequence could be you pay for the repairs and cannot drive it again until repaired - in essence, that is a punishment too, it's just more logical (and costly!) than grounding. For a younger child, if you keep running away from Mum in the playground, the natural consequence is that you have to hold Mum's hand at all times and not leave her side - a natural consequence which accounts for safety, but definitely construed as a punishment by the child.<br /><br />I think the point many are getting at when they try to distinguish between the two are punishments that do not fit a natural consequence - eg. spanking, time out/grounding, withdrawal of privileges. All of which may have a place in many homes as a method of punishment, but don't always teach about discipline. Being someone who could find it easy to simply punish (mainly with time in rooms and withdrawal of privileges), it is a constant challenge for me to continue to discipline with patience, grace and purpose. I think that is a challenge for many parents.<br /><br />Does that help?<br /><br />WendyWendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11235980969755979085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416089578031996468.post-65086215907427061712011-03-03T22:54:16.421+10:302011-03-03T22:54:16.421+10:30Hi Wendy
This might be a question for a different...Hi Wendy<br /><br />This might be a question for a different post but I was wondering if you see a difference between discipline and punishment. <br /><br />The discipline described here seems geared towards training a child to love what is right which seems great and I'm not questioning that. But I was just wondering whether you think there's a place for punishment as well?<br /><br />One blog I read has suggested that because Jesus has taken our punishment, kids need only be disciplined not punished if parenting is to be grace based. (http://www.theologyforwomen.org/2009/05/discipline-v-punishment-or-parenting.html) What do you think about that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com