how do i punish my daughter when she is acting out in public?

Question

she acts good when we are at home. but when we go out in public places she acts really bad . what should i do.

Answer 1

you shouldn't punish her for acting out in public. She should rehearse privately, but unless she is giving a private performance, she is supposed to act out in public. That's what theater is all about. Most of the ancient Greek and Roman theater was performed out in public.

K

Answer 2

Children need to behave in public the same way they behave at home - or even better usually. How do you punish her at home? A lot of people use "time out". I used to have my child(ren) just sit down on the floor in the aisle of the store and have their "time out" for a moment while I shopped. This usually worked. If not, I would stop shopping for a while and take them out of the store (just stand outside or go to the car) until they regain control of their behavior. Remind them that this behavior will not be accepted by you. Also, don't give in and reward bad behavior by trying to buy something at the store to keep them busy, etc. Instead, remind them that rewards and such may be taken away if their behavior continues. Children as young as 2 can learn to behave in public. I have used the example of a store, but do the same techniques in a restaurant, party, etc. Time out, brief removal from the situation or punish by taking away something they value. Be consistent and don't give in! Good Luck!

Answer 3

my daughter does that too, it's like they figure they can't be put in time out at the mall, or wherever - what I do is ( after 1 warning) drop whatever I'm doing and haul her off to the nearest bathroom, a huge pain in the butt, but she now behaves much better, I only had to do it a few times before she got the picture - if I'm getting groceries, I leave the cart at customer service, telling them I'll be back, so you don't have to restart. But do it a couple of times, as a time out measure, and soon the warnings will have the desired response... Good luck!
it really can be hard to drop everything and do this, but the time it takes is not much different than trying to stop a tantrum anyway, and now I don't need to do it anymore, and get total strangers saying what a well-behaved child I have, aren't I lucky! lol, they have no idea!

Answer 4

Well, I still have friends that spank their children in public. To me, it's very unacceptable, not only is it a type of corporal punishment, but also, it is creating a scene. Have you tried venturing off to a restroom? My son was always better if I could get him out of the public eye and talk with him rationally. My step-sister always said that the new method of handling the situation discreetly is to pinch the skin under their arm or armpit (just be careful how hard, of course). This can be done in a manner where people won't see, but your child will feel it and learn. Try it on yourself...it would make me stop what I was doing. Good luck.

Answer 5

How old is your daughter? If she is 3+ you can use the following technique which I learned from the book How To Parent.

I have three children (20, 19 and 14). My strategy for getting them to behave in public was to TALK to them BEFORE we go out and tell them exactly what/how I expected them to behave and what would happen if they didn't. Then I would ask them to repeat back to me what I said so I knew that they understood. For example, I might have said," if you misbehave we will leave the store and you won't go with me the next time I go." Then I would stick to what I said.

I made my children take responsibility for their actions and hardly ever had any problems.

Answer 6

I have the same problem with my son. Sometimes it just gets so bad I will pck him up, carry him out of the store,(he is ususally kicking and screaming the whole way), and we go out to the car. When we get in the car I just tell him that we are not going back in until he can act like a big boy. Good Luck!

Answer 7

when my kids act up i tell them to behave one time and then ask them, if they repeat this behavior, if i need to take them to the bathroom or outside. I did this 3 times with my oldest son before he put 2 and 2 together and realized that he was not to act this way in public. My youngest son it took 2 times and he was done with the fit throwing. i tell them one time now to behave or we will go to the bathroom or outside and they straighten up real quick. hope this helped, holly

Answer 8

Give her a rap on the butt. Never mind the liberals and all their busy body crap. She needs to learn what is appropriate behaviour and she needs both positive and negative reinforcement for her actions. Naturally discipline needs to be moderate in it's delivery and tempered with love and concern. I'm saying don't beat the child but a pat on the rump isn't something children necessarily care for and it should do the trick.

Answer 9

Tell her the next time you go out you will have to get a baby sitter for her. Always praise her good behaviour and ignore "(try to) her negative behavior. It works.

I also did a countdown and it work starting with 5. I don't know what I had planned when I got to zero, never lasted that long.

Answer 10

My parents did this to me, and I never acted up again.

If we were somewhere that I wanted to be, like the toy store, or a restaurant I liked, if I acted up we left. I didn't get any pizza. I didn't get a toy. I didn't get anything.

Answer 11

When my stepdaughter starts throwing a fit in stores, I say "goodbye" and start walking towards the door. I usually works.