If our children are disciplined in this respect, they will not have a need to turn to gangs, drugs, or sex to feel powerful or belong. The following ten keys will help parents use methods that have been proven to provide children with a sense of well-being and security. We often pretend to listen or ignore our child's attempts to communicate with us. If we don't give our child GEMS throughout the day, he will often start to misbehave. Negative attention in a child's mind is better than being ignored.
Action speaks louder than words.
If you don't, they will find inappropriate ways to feel their power. Ways to help them feel powerful and valuable are to ask their advice, give them choices, let them help you balance your check book, cook all our part of a meal, or help you shop. If we interfere when we don't need to, we rob children of the chance to learn from the consequences of their actions. Often the consequences are too far in the future to practically use a natural consequence. When that is the case, logical consequences are effective.