Well, there should be certain rules of conduct that everyone follows. It should be clear from the beginning that unpleasantness will result from not obeying those rules. Keep in mind that when it comes to children “equal” does not always mean “same”.
Now the punishment may vary, simply because every child is different. I have dc that an upset word said to sends them into crying fits that would make you think a leg was torn off.
Which I ignore by the way.
I have other dc that will look you defiantly in the eye after a spanking and say, “that didn’t even hurt”. Which is why I don’t spank that often - too busy to stop everything to spank every time I turn around. And they just get the glazed-in-the-eye look when I lecture, so why bother saying more than the facts? But it’s pretty easy to say, “There goes your trip to the zoo Saturday, young man! or bring me that gameboy right now”
As for work, well you have to have clear rules and clear results for breaking them because it’s been my experience that adults are a good deal slower at learning discipline.
Plus, that covers your fanny when when they go whining “Unfair!” in court.
My biggest pet peeve about work unfairness? You have the people who have made it such a habit to show up late, leave early, never be available to work overtime, never counted on for much other than the bare minimum of work - and everyone just takes it right in stride because that’s the way it’s always been. Then you have the employee that is always early, leaves late, is prepared, professional, and gets written up for being 5 minutes late twice because when the person you always count on is late the other people freak out.
Not saying you’re that kind of boss, just been there done that scenario. It’s like a kick in the face and the good employee starts to wonder why on earth he’s being such a good employee when it’s obvious that he doesn’t have anything more to show for it. Good news for the bosses though: it’s usually a character trait that just can’t be changed!
