How to Discipline Your Child in Public Without Being Noticed

A personal dread of mine is to HAVE to discipline in public. I hate thinking people are judging me for what they think they "see". As a parent, if you decide to discipline in public, which in most cases you should, you have to consider your options as to HOW you are going to discipline your child.

Disciplining your child in public is a double edge sword. If you do not discipline your child in public, society may think you are neglecting your child. If you discipline your child and one person thinks you are too harsh, children's services may come to investigate you. So, how are parents supposed to raise respectable children they can take in public? If parents do nothing, their children will be certain to continue the bad behavior and if parents discipline, child services may be called. Here are a few ideas to help you choose how to discipline your child in public.

Posture - Posture tells a lot about a person. Standing with good posture shows confidence and poise. A relaxed posture puts everyone at ease and you are not seen as a threat. If you are going to discipline your children in public without suspicion, look relaxed.

Facial Expression - Facial expression will tell someone how you feel. As a parent you have to practice a "poker face". Using a poker face in public is crucial so no one will know how you are really feeling. If you have not mastered a poker face, and you are extremely angry, think happy relaxing thoughts so no one knows your child has out did themselves. Your children will need to know you are not happy with them, but the rest of the world does not need to know.

Voice - The sound of your voice will tell your children whether you are angry or not and how angry you really are. Never raise your voice in public unless you are yelling for a shock factor to get your child's attention because he or she is in imminent danger. If you are disciplining your child, you want to talk quietly and slowly, biting your words. This usually scares my children more than the thought of being grounded. You want to have an affect on your child without the rest of the state hearing you. Save your yelling for the house if you feel it is needed.

Movements - Movements when disciplining a child is extremely important. If you move quickly, point or move aggressively people are going to notice. When disciplining your child you are going to wag your finger in your child's face, you may want to wait until you get home to scold your child. Hand movements raise suspicion with onlookers.

Never look like you are a threat to a child. Posture, voice, facial expression and movement will have others deciding if you are parenting, abusing, or if you are thinking about hurting someone, specifically your child. While in public, discipline is all about others' perception.