Questionnaires: Do You Encourage Discipline and Respect?

Encouraging discipline and respect is an essential part of raising a self-confident, socially adjusted and generally successful child. Every parent will have his or her own ideas on encouraging discipline and respect, but the important part is that these thoughts are turned into actions and methods that are used consistently across the entire family.

In order to help you assess your methods we have put together the following questionnaire. Answer each question with “yes” or “no” and then match the totals to the explanations at the end to determine if you encourage discipline and respect in your household.

Take the Quiz!

1. Have you spoken to your family about proper etiquette? 2. Does each family member understand their household responsibilities? 3. Have you draw up household rules and guidelines? 4. Do the adults in the household follow the same rules as the children? 5. Do you praise family members who show respect to others? 6. Are there consequences for breaking household rules? 7. Do you encourage others when you observe instances of discipline? 8. Do you model expected behaviours for all family members? 9. Is there open communication between children and adults? 10. Have you discussed with children why everyone deserves respect? 11. Are the consequences for actions both good and bad consistent and appropriate? 12. Do you ask for your children’s input and change rules when appropriate?

0 to 4 Yes answers

If you answered “yes” to between zero and four questions then you most likely do not consistently encourage discipline and respect in your household. It may be that you’ve never thought about how you want your family to act or your household to run but now is the time to make household rules a priority. Talk with your family about why it is important for everyone to be disciplined and show respect for each other, including from adults to children. Draw up family guidelines and post them for everyone to see and refer to as needed. When you spot family members following the rules offer praise, and enforce consequences when rules are broken. Remember, your rules will need to be flexible and grow with your family so don’t expect to be done with them forever once they are set.

5 to 8 Yes answers

If you answered “yes” to between five and eight questions then you may regularly encourage discipline and respect among your family. You likely have spoken with your family about proper etiquette and expected standards of behaviour, but you may have yet to implement consistent consequences when these standards are ignored. Spend time determining the best ways to deal with a lack of discipline and/or examples of disrespect and make sure that whatever you come up with teaches a lesson rather than just punishes. Some children will only learn the hard way, but they can’t learn anything if there is no underlying lesson.

9 or more Yes answers

If you answered “yes” to nine or more questions then you most likely encourage discipline and respect in your home on a regular basis. You have probably already talked with your family about the kinds of behaviours you will and will not tolerate, and make sure to model discipline and respect yourself. Take a look at your household rules and determine if they need updating, and review the consequences for broken rules and misbehaviour. Are the consequences teaching your children anything? Have they learned any lessons from the consequences? If you are not confident that your methods of discipline are working, change them before you waste any more time and make sure to observe the effectiveness of your new methods for a while as well.