Use the Following Rules When Disciplining Children
1) Stay calm.
2) Reward good behavior. Catch your child being good and praise him! (But do not give your child unnecessary praise, as modern culture encourages parents do – such as doing somersaults over a picture of a tree they brought home from preschool.)
3) Be consistent. Say what you mean and mean what you say -- every time.
4) Know when to ignore certain behaviors. This can be very powerful. Try to determine what kinds of behaviors you can safely ignore, and this will cut down on the amount of time you spend reprimanding your children. For example, if a child does something minor that he knows he’s not supposed to do – and if you saw it but he doesn’t know you saw it, ignore it. Keep your reprimanding for the big things.
5) Use humor. As much as possible, turn something potentially combustible into something funny. For example, if your four-year-old doesn’t like to brush his teeth and get ready for bed, say to him: “Whatever you do, do NOT go brush your teeth and put your jammies on” with a smile. This will throw him off course and generally bring about the desired outcome.

1. Never spank when angry
2. The child must be able to walk.
3. The child must be legally your own child--not a student, not a foster kid or other relative or neighbor or daycare client or non-adopted stepchild.
4. The infraction must either be dangerous or defiant.
5. If you are going to spank, it should be within one to five minutes of the infraction.
A spanking administered by a parent who is not angry to a defiant 2 year-old can have a salutary effect on the child.
If spanking is used only when the parent is out of control, it can be counterproductive. Deciding you will never spank leaves you open to spanking when you are out of control.
It was amazing to me that I began to develop much calmer responses generally to my child when I decided that I had to be calm in order to spank. My yelling decreased along with my spanking. I was able to discipline much more effectively when I decided there were circumstances when spanking was appropriate than when I thought that spanking was always abuse.
29 state legislatures have abolished physical (corporal) punishment (paddling or spanking with weapons/wooden boards by educators to deliberately inflict physical pain and suffering intended to punish schoolchildren). Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has proposed a school paddling ban, if approved, Ohio will be the 30th state to abolish corporal punishment of children in schools making it illegal. Government leaders must take immediate action to ensure Equal Civil Rights treatment and educational access to safe, healthy and supportive learning environments by establishing and enforcing Nationwide Uniform Standards regarding school safety and student discipline for ALL Children. The very important issue of children's safety at school is not a Local Issue to be left up to local school boards. Educators who hit children with wooden paddles powerfully model physical assault/violence as the acceptable way to solve problems. The cost to eliminate educators' right to hit schoolchildren is $0.
..i'm glad you pointed out these simple steps, which should be obvious but they're not. people really fail to do these things. it needs to be mentioned. It's completely dangerous and distructive to our planet to raise children the way that people are being taught to do. It seems nearly everyone raises their children with dishonest encrouagement and over flown praise. What we have is a new generation of deciety selfish irrational unsaitable demons. That's not good. These parents should be held responsible for the civil crime their children will commit.