What "discipline" means
It’s pretty easy to equate “discipline” with punishment, or trying to stop poor behavior, but as you probably know, discipline does not mean punishment. It’s really important to remember that as parents.
We sometimes hear that military leaders strive to “maintain discipline.” That suggests controlling people with punishment or with nasty consequences administered to offenders. What needs to be “maintained” is appropriate conduct or behavior.
The word discipline can also refer to teaching people rules about how to behave in particular situations. In this sense, “discipline” suggests something about teaching or guiding, rather than punishing . . .