Care should be taken that the child is not alienated by her peers for receiving this attention. The quantity of punishment should be directly proportional to and be commensurate with the severity of the actions. It should not be indiscriminate and should be linked to the type of offense committed by the child. It should be educational, and appropriate to the offense committed. Efforts should be made to communicate that the punishment is for action and not for individual being.
Punishment is also a part of therapy.
The punishment should be given with a sincere intention to make the child realize the result of her actions. It should not be used to establish authority or label the child as a potential threat for all the time. Private vendettas only invite counter vengeance, breed brutality - sadistic or masochistic. The objective of the punishment should always be to build in the child the ability to discriminate between right and wrong. Punishment should make the child reflect on her actions.