In our home, we have been telling the girls for several years that they have choices every day on how they behave, and that they are responsible for making those choices. It seems like we have at least one discussion each week on this subject. When behavior is outside acceptable limits there are consequences. But we had them help determine (in advance) what the consequences would be in appropriate behavior. When we discuss minor behavior problems with the girls, we talk about how the decisions could have been different (better), and they seem to understand and make necessary corrections. The last major problem was lieing (twice) about two weeks ago, and that got 12 year old grounded for one week for each lie, plus two 1,000 word essays on why lieing was un-acceptable.

are you a head teacher or something i thought lines were a thing of the past?
It sounds like you run a very tight ship, not dissing you by the way if it works then great!

Hi
I have a funny story about lines, i once told my 10 yr old daughter to write lines for being rude, she typed one on the computer and copied and pasted the remaining 99! I did not know to laugh or praise her for using her initiative.
saida