With the fear of punishment the child might momentarily...

With the fear of punishment the child might momentarily, or for some time, behave differently and properly. Or he might cleverly not make the same mistake openly. But when he finds a suitable opportunity, he might be up to the same behavior for which he has been reprimanded in the past. The punishments, therefore, don’t cut away the cause of the misdemeanors of the child. It is possible that sometimes the child might take shelter behind lying and stealth.

To make effective and judicious of the non-physical punishments, a few points are suggested to the parents and the mentors of the children: The punishment should be well thought out and commensurate with the misdemeanor of the child. Ensure that the punishment is not more than the flaw or the misbehavior of the child. If the child thinks that the punishment was unjust, he might react in his defense and start to be rebellious and head-strong.

The punishment should not be such that the child starts thinking that the parents are his enemies and they don’t love him. If the child has committed something wrong unintentionally, he should not be punished. Despite this, if the child is punished, it might have negative impact on his feelings and his mind. Punishments should not become an every day affair if the parents wish them to be effective. If punishments are repeated too often, the child might turn into a compulsive offender.

Then the punishments will not have any effect on him. Imam ‘Ali has said: “Reprimand and punishment in excess might make one stubborn,"[^2] The child can be punished for a single act and not on a collective basis for his past Misbehaviors. Otherwise the child will be confused as to why he is being punished. He will not repeat an act, only if he knows that he was punished for doing that. It is always better that the punishment is immediately after the commitment of the act.

To the extent possible, efforts must be made to see that the punishment is according to the mistake he has committed. For example, if the child has fallen behind in doing the exercises of mathematics, he must be ordered to complete the exercise and not to copy the entire book of mathematics from start to end. If the child has carelessly thrown away his school bag, and the uniform, after returning from school, he must be asked to immediately arrange them properly in the right place.

As a punishment for this careless behavior he should not be threatened that he would not be taken to the dinner scheduled for that evening.