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Is it semantics? Is it the motivation behind it? I am having a hard time trying to figure out the difference between chastisement and punishment. Isn't it the same? They both can cause pain. They are both for turning a person away from their sin. They both are supposed to teach the difference between "good" and "bad". If I "chastise" my children. . . . . say, I cancel their trip to the gym today because they didn't get out of bed in time (when I told them to),and explain that we just don't have the time now, since they got up so late, and didn't get up when I told them to, isn't that punishment, too?
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I'd like to gently encourage you to not worry about it.
It's my opinion and experience that children progress into needing related consequences whether they are imposed (logical) or natural.
If a school aged child chooses to not get up in time to enjoy an outing; the outing goes away. That is a related, reasonable, respectful imposed logical consequence. Making them write out a Proverb....not so much. Taking away computer privileges......not so much (unless it was the computer keeping them up!) Making them do extra chores, not related. It's *discipline* and the style emerges from the life situaiton itself.
In my working definition, "punishment" is used to label unrelated consequences applied to a situation to:
1) Make the child feel bad about or consider their behavior
2) Make them pay for their behavior
3) Teach them not to do "it" again
To chastise:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chastisement
How about admonish instead?
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/admonish