Week 3; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 3 in its entirety, answer the following question:  Sometimes abusive parents say they merely teach strict discipline.  What do you think is the difference between pushing and disciplining a child?  When do people overstep their paternal authority to punish their children? 

I think that the line between discipline and abuse is not as fine as many people act. Strict discipline can be used when a child is misbehaving and will eventually result in an outcome that will be better for the child. Abuse is something that has no positive outcome. Abusing a child whether it is done with words or physical actions as strict discipline will not teach a child anything but fear and just because they are scare does not mean that they respect the rules. I think that learning that our actions have consequences are a great tool for discipline but it should not ignite fear. A punishment for wrongdoing is also something that a child should learn from but if they are just punished in general, they are not learning from it, especially if it is a normal occurrence. In all, I think that parents who are abusive punish without thinking about how this will help their child learn to not do it again, instead they are just trying to scare them into not doing it again. While a parent who is disciplining a child for wrongdoing will have a reason, and explanation and the child will know why they should not do that next time.