This post is the first of a two-part article about parenting in the BVI written by a young aspiring Writer.

Welcome on board Kiki and may you continue to grow from strength to strength.

By: Kiki (Guest Author, BVI)

Have you ever asked yourself why children in the BVI have such a bad behavioral problem? Sad to say but as parents you all go through a phase where you find that children will rebel towards you and the instructions given to them.

As parents in the community you are to raise your children in the best way possible, but frankly this is not what has been taking place within the BVI community. There are many children in the community with significantly unpleasant attitude.

The behavior of a child depends on the parenting skills of the parents because they are responsible for the proper upbringing of their children.

Parents and guardians in the BVI should reassess their method of parenting!

I do believe that as parents and guardians, the path in which they raise their children should be re-evaluated. We all can distinctly see that it’s not very effective.

Firm or Fair?

Being extra firm with the children within the BVI needs to be improved and make a change for the better. Also, another point about parenting and the relationship with your child is that you should be fair with each other but as a parent it’s not the best idea to always wear the disciplinary hat.

Sometimes you can also be friendly with your child to understand where they are coming from.

When you are fair, friendly and firm while raising up your child you will appreciate the effectiveness of your child becoming disciplined (Child Development Institute) .

Parenting styles can influence a child’s social, cognitive, and psychological growth, which affects children both in the childhood years and as an adult.

Therefore, the importance of being very cautious in how you parent your child is very crucial because whatever you teach them at a very young stage will show up later in their behavior as they grow and mature.

If you begin by training your child the wrong way at a very young stage then realized later that you should have brought them up in a different way, it may be a little too late to instill certain things within them.

You may find it very difficult to help them to act in the right manner at that stage because whatever they learned while young is what they essentially know. Trying to change their behavior at this late stage will be a challenge.

It is, therefore, better to train them in the correct way from the infant stage. Imagine how beneficial it will be for your child and the entire world for them to become well-behaved individuals.

When you have more disciplined people in the world, there will be fewer crimes taking place and less havoc throughout the world.

Maintaining Consistency With Your Children

Firstly, find and maintain consistency for yourself and then follow through with a firm, clear, consistent approach to disciplining (Consistent Parenting Advice). No one can be 100% consistent 100% of the time, but what happens when you’re frequently inconsistent?

You’ll find that your child’s behavior will get worse, and you will be more tired and worn down as a result.

Why is consistency important for kids? Children need to know what to expect because it helps them make informed decisions. As they grow, they learn that certain behaviors lead to certain outcomes (Bean).

If you are to be firm with your children, you will have to be extremely consistent if you want your rules to be effective. Do you want them to know that they can trust your words, your actions and your tone of voice? (Consistent Parenting Advice).

Be consistent as a parent and it will make you reliable and dependable to your kids!

Be constant as much as possible. While disciplining your children, listen to the words and actions that you say and do so that once you’re consistent they will know that you are serious.

Hence, when it comes to other things regarding their best interest they will rely on you because you are firm and dependable with whatever you do and say.

But it does not mean that you don’t allow your children to have privileges.

If you are clear, it will help them to understand your motives and the reasons why you are disciplining them.

Definitely, as parents, you expect your kids to follow your instructions, but you can also give them an explanation so that they will understand where their mom or dad is trying to lead them.

Sometimes the children do not listen to the parents when they are given instructions. One way that parents can overcome this is to ask their children to repeat the instructions that they gave them.

Many people believe that being firm with your kids is being strict but in fact, this is not so.

Being consistent also includes rewarding as well. It does not only mean correcting or discipline a child (Child Development Institute).

Note that discipline is not about punishment. Effective training has nothing to do with any form of physical abuse towards children.

Discipline is not about smacking, spanking or hitting (Consistent Parenting Advice).

Stay tuned for the concluding part to this inspiring post which will be published at 4 pm today. Click to read Part Two.  Feel free to write your comment below.

Happy Father’s day!