Overcoming violence: Guiding our children and youths with positive discipline

Abstract

This article aimed to put forward the situation of violence in children and youths in Thailand and the importance of positive discipline to make relevant stakeholders recognized the significance of applying positive discipline instead of punishment with violence and developing concrete measures to promote positive discipline. The information in this article was obtained from literature reviews and analysis relevant to the research process; empirical evidence from an exchange of professionals' experiences involved in caring for children and youths. The statistic in Thailand regarding victims of violence who reported to the one-stop crisis center (OSCC) of various hospitals affiliated with the ministry of public health on 20 November 2015 showed that children and youths who were victimized by violence were as high as 10,712 or approximately 29 per day. We also found that some adults still believed that punishment is necessary for teaching discipline. According to researches, it had shown that violent punishment created only short-term benefits such as putting a stop to inappropriate behavior. However, it could create adverse effects not only on the child’s perspective on hope, but also on their physical, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing as well as the caregivers -particularly emotional aspects. Moreover, it was found that many caregivers were still unsure of how to teach or react in a way to promote effective discipline as well as favorable behavioral modification. By applying positive discipline measures to replace violent punishment would encourage positive learning experiences for children and youth. Subsequently, children and youth would express desired behaviors in the long run because self-regulation and learning are significantly correlated with positive discipline.