If you want to successfully teach your child right from wrong, then a critical key when disciplining is to be consistent. By being consistent in discipline you are able to keep the small occurrences of misbehavior growing into much worse behavior over time. This means standing firm when you give your child an instruction. It is important to communicate to your child that you mean what you say. For example “Please turn off the computer now ” or “no ice cream after dinner because you didn't touch your food". By being consistent you are teaching your child that there are definite consequences for misbehavior or unacceptable actions. If you aren't consistent in your discipline you will not teach your children to be responsible for their own actions.

Parents must present a united front in discipline with the children. This means that parents must agree on the consequences resulting from a children's misbehavior. Not only that ,but parents must make a commitment to each other to be consistent in implementing and following through with the consequences that they have agreed upon. This can be challenging if the child's parents are separated or divorced. Even though you may not be living together anymore, it is very important to that you agree to be consistent in discipline. This involves openly and all is honestly discussing expectations with your spouse and your child ahead of time. In this way when discipline is needed the consequences of the child's misbehavior clearly understood ahead of time. Should parents disagree on discipline strategies they should discuss them outside of the child's hearing.