Consequences for kids | Effective Negative Consequences

Teaching kids that actions have consequences is one of the most important things parents can do as it helps them take responsibility and grow up to be successful and contributing adults.

Consequences and punishments are not the same things. Punishments cause your child harm, physical, mental, or emotional, while a consequence teaches your child and to encourage them to change their behavior.

The behavior skill of Effective Negative Consequences helps kids understand that their actions have consequences. This idea can be hard for kids to grasp as they have difficulty seeing the effect of their actions. When parents give an Effective Negative Consequence it helps a child connect their behavior to their response.

Not all consequences that parents give are useful. It can be challenging to know what consequences will work. These five components ensure that the consequence is effective.

The five components are:
Immediate: The consequence should happen as soon as possible after a negative behavior.

Degree/size: The consequence should match the behavior.

Consistent: A parent needs to give the consequence every time the behavior happens.

Important: The consequence needs to matter to the child.

Varied: Parents should give a variety of consequences as the same consequence becomes less effective.

If a consequence isn’t working, it means that one of the components needs to be adjusted.

Effective Negative Consequence helps kids understand cause and effect in a way that doesn’t damage your relationship.

Teaching kids consequences is necessary. Effective Negative Consequences shows you how!

Effective Negative Conesquence goes hand-in-hand with Effective Positive Rewards. We recommend using both skills together.