As children begin to explore their abilities and the world around them, they will also begin to test limits. Parents can be solely charged with setting and reinforcing the limits that will provide the paradigm for a well-adjusted adult. It's not uncommon for children to act out in ways like refusing to obey, misbehaving in public, having temper tantrums, becoming aggressive, or even lying and stealing. Below are common ways that children may act out, and corresponding disciplinary methods that can help curtail disagreeable behavior. While each method has its proponents and critics, it can be up to you to determine what is best for your child.

Common Acting Out Behaviors

• Kids Won't Listen? 8 Ways to Get Them to Hear You ��� PsychCentral shares eight ways for parents to raise children who respect and hear their parents. The emphasis here is on how parents can change their behavior to appeal to their children.
• Why Won't My Toddler Go to Bed? ��� The reasons why a toddler may resist going to sleep and ways to get him or her in bed are discussed here. Common scenarios and their solutions are offered.
• Managing Classroom Behavior Information for Parents and Caregivers (PDF) ��� These are ways in which parents and caregivers can help their kids respect teachers and classmates and behave in a classroom.

• Temper Tantrums ��� The definition of a temper tantrum is given here, as well as frequently asked questions about them, and advice on when to seek professional help.
• How to Manage Aggressive Child Behavior ��� This website offers suggestions on how to manage aggressive children, starting from pre-school age up until the teen years.
• Teaching Kids Not to Bully ��� This article teaches parents how to cope with a child who is displaying bullying behavior. It intends to shed light on why a child may resort to bullying, and how parents can help curb the behavior.
• Eliminating Lying and Stealing ��� Utah State University gives parents advice on how to encourage honesty and integrity in children. A series of "rules" are given by the writers.
• How to Deal With Lying and Encourage Honesty ��� An expert nanny pulls on her experience as a child care professional to give tips on how to deal with a child who lies.
• Good Discipline for Acting Out Kids ��� This article by Dr. Daniel A. Bochner provides tips for disciplining a child who is routinely acting out in different manners.

Common Discipline Methods

• Lecturing ��� Some parents may consider lecturing their children in order to explain how their behavior is unacceptable. Many child specialists, however, consider lecturing to be one of the least effective methods of discipline.
• Perspectives on Discipline: The Effectiveness of Natural Logical Consequences ��� Dr. Robert Brooks gives insight into the use of natural and logical consequences as a discipline method.
• Time Out and Other Discipline Tools That Work (PDF) ��� Ohio State University gives facts about the time-out discipline method and provides tips on how to effectively implement it.

• The Case Against Time-out ��� Dr. Peter Haiman argues against the use of time-outs in child discipline, and suggests that the practice could be detrimental to a child's development and could lead to a host of problems that he or she could experience as an adult.
• Withholding Privileges ��� Healthychildren.org discusses different methods of child discipline, including withholding privileges, and provides tips to make them more effective.
• Spanking ��� Spanking has recently come under fire as a discipline method. For years, it was a "go-to" disciplinary method, but a shift in the social moral compass, and new definitions of abuse have helped to spark controversy around its practice. Here, Dr. Sears outlines reasons why spanking should be avoided.
• Spare the Rod? The Research Challenges Spanking Critics ��� A doctor and proponent of spanking uses case research and studies to argue for the implementation of spanking as a disciplinary method.
• Effective Discipline Strategies for Parents: Useful Techniques and Methods ��� Here, the discipline tactics of withholding privileges and time-outs are discussed with a special consideration of child brain development.
• Age-appropriate Discipline Techniques ��� Age-appropriate Discipline Techniques: Dr. Phil breaks down the types of discipline that are appropriate for different age groups of children.