It is natural for a child to make mistakes, because he is not infallible. After all, the child is a human being and he is vulnerable to weakness, deficiency, fancies and sometimes evil desires. The Prophet, , said: “All the children of Aadam are sinners, but the best among the sinners are those who frequently repent.”

　　All of us make a few or many mistakes, and the happy person is the one whose faults are countable.

　　When a child makes a mistake, his parents should deal with him wisely and deliberately, remembering that whichever method they want to use to correct the child’s behavior, they should take the following points into account:

　　1- The child must be convinced that he made a mistake. That is because there are certain patterns of behavior that the child does not recognize as being wrong, especially at an early age. For example, lying for any reason may be due to wild imagination, or to escape punishment. In such a case, direction and guidance should be the first option.

　　4- Understanding the factors that caused the child to make the mistake. He may have reasons for making this mistake. The parents can know the real motivations when they promise the child that they will not punish him if he tells the truth. This also requires making the child feel that his parents have confidence in him and only seek to do what is best for him.

　　7- Taking the initiative and correcting the child’s mistakes as soon as he makes them. Some parents may overlook all the mistakes their children make and leave them until things get worse under the pretext that the child is still young or because the problems are not serious.

　　This will eventually lead to making serious mistakes, because big problems are not always born big. When we neglect and procrastinate in dealing with the mistakes of our children, forgetting the price of this negligence, mistakes grow until they become deeply-rooted in our children.

　　10- Physical punishment is one of the educational methods approved in the Sharee'ah (Islamic legislation) as long as it is used properly.

　　Luqmaan, the wise, said, “Beating the child is like fertilizing the plants.”

　　Sabrah ibn Ma‘bad Al-Juhani, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, , said: “Command a child to pray when he reaches the age of seven. When he becomes ten, beat him for it (the prayer).”

　　Guidance should be the first option and the child should be given a chance to realize, learn and do what is required of him. Hence, the Prophet, , commanded us to spend three years in teaching the child how to perform this great rite.

　　The educator, particularly the parents, should only resort to physical punishment when they believe that the child deserves it, and that it will correct his behavior. The parents should make sure that they are punishing their child to correct him, not to take revenge upon him. This requires following these steps:

　　A- Punishment should be gradual: Many people believe that punishment is synonymous to beating, but this ignores the fact that there are other forms of punishment such as deprivation of pocket money for example, delay in responding to his requests, desertion and refraining from speaking with the child, and so on. These forms may be have more effect than beating.

　　B- Physical punishment must be the last option and within the minimum limits.

　　C- We should never punish the child in front of others such as his schoolmates, neighbors or even his brothers and sisters. Dear educator, avoid any offense as well as generalization such as, “You always make mistakes” or “You never do anything right.”

　　D- The child should not be punished for the mistake that he makes for the first time. The first time is for guidance and direction in addition to explaining the consequences of making this mistake again.

　　E- We should keep away from cruelty and severe punishments, because it is considered evidence of the educator’s weakness. Therefore, the educator should not punish the child while he is angry and he should avoid harming the child’s body. Severe punishment has adverse effects and the child will feel that he is oppressed. In such a case, the punishment will detract him from trying to correct his behavior. The results may be worse when the child hates his parents and educators.

　　On the other extreme, negligence and giving free rein to the child is harmful and very dangerous. The majority of deviant children are victims of one of those two wrong methods: Cruelty or negligence.

　　Finally, we need to review our methodologies and ways of dealing with the mistakes in our life in general and the mistakes of our children in particular.