The ‘Natural Consequences’

Often times, when parents think of boundaries, consequences or even punishments come to mind. However, sometimes when we create certain consequences or harsh punishments it will backfire. Thus, we can aim to allow children to learn from ‘natural consequences’. For example, when we remind the children to walk in class and they still choose to run despite the reminders. The natural consequence would be tripping over something in class and getting hurt or bumping into a friend and getting hurt. Instead of saying, “See I told you not to run!” or “I told you to walk! See now you are hurt.” instead we could talk through the incident and rationalise why he/she got hurt while running in a small space. Allowing natural consequences teaches bigger lessons and makes children more aware of how their actions might cause an impact at a later stage.

Settling loving limits such as boundaries and allowing natural consequences is not an easy task. As a parent, we are always so ready to quickly settle the issue or just step in and save the day. However, the next time a challenging incident occurs let’s try to remember the boundaries that have to be set and the natural consequence that the child can learn from this experience. It will not be an easy task and it will not magically be effective in a day, but if we persist in setting boundaries and allowing natural consequence we will see the process of growth in our child.