Using Feng Shui for Better Behaved Children

Is your son or daughter not as respectful and courteous as you would like? Maybe you’d like to instill more discipline in your child. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could influence better behavior from your child just by making simple decorative changes in his or her room? You can with feng shui.

Often referred to as the Chinese art of placement, feng shui is probably more correctly called the Chinese art of alignment. That’s because if a space is aligned properly, the residents in that space function better. Metaphorically speaking, feng shui is to a house what acupuncture is to a body. When correctly applied, feng shui is a tool that can correct problem areas, such as ill health, strained relationships, or difficulties with children.

If you’d like your child to exhibit more respectfulness, obedience, and self-control, it might be worth it to try some feng shui in the child’s bedroom. In addition to these qualities, feng shui will also help you establish your role in the household hierarchy. That’s because it’s important for children to know who’s in charge. But don’t mistake being the household authority with being authoritarian. Children like friends, but they need parents.

Try these easy-to-do tips in your child’s room. Although these aren’t all the feng shui tips for children’s rooms, they are some of the most important for creating better behaved children. Just the simple act of applying time and energy in your child’s room will affirm to your child how important he or she is to you, and that may be all it takes to make a happier, more respectful child.

• Make the child responsible for the room.
Children’s respect for others begins with having respect for themselves and their rooms. Insist they keep their rooms tidy and their beds made by assigning a specified time each day or week for the child to clean the room.

• Clear away excess.
Clutter-filled rooms detract from a child’s focus, and this can undermine obedience. Throw out all unnecessary or seldom-used items. Also, make sure there is nothing stored under the bed.

• Arrange the bed correctly.
Make sure the child can see the door of the bedroom easily. Avoid placing the bed against a shared wall of a bathroom, or under a window, having the child view stairs or a bathroom from the bed.

• Create a study area.
It’s important that the child is focused on education, a critical factor in creating respect for authority and learning self-discipline. Add a lamp here and a small globe. Both symbolically impart the importance of education.

• Make a “Wall of Fame.”
Every child needs to feel proud. Designate a wall preferably the South wall) where certificates, drawings, awards, trophies, and photographs of the child are placed.

• Ground the child.
Is the child too overly active to pay attention? Many children such as this are in white rooms. White is a “yang,” or energizing, color. Paint the child’s room an “earth” color, such as beige, brown, or green. n
• Establish the parental presence.
A wonderful feng shui secret for establishing parental influence is to have a picture of the parent(s) in the child’s room. This is the subtle – and best -- way to assert your authority.

• Censor wall hangings.
Images of death, violence, or ferocious animals have no place in a child’s room and should be removed immediately. A child cannot focus if he is scared – even subconsciously. Also, be sure that the child’s bed is not reflected in any mirrors. It is actually best not to have mirrors in a bedroom at all.