The behavior of children and adolescents is caused by the status of their developmentally normal and appropriate needs. Tradition has recommended that it is best quickly and harshly to punish a child when he or she misbehaves. The punishment may take the form of spankings or time-outs. However, such punishments do not help the parent, child or adolescent learn about the causes of the misbehavior. If one or more of those needs has not been met, the child will act out in some way. Punishment may only serve to stifle the child's or adolescent's feelings, worsening an already frustrated emotional state. This prevents healthy child and adolescent development, and damages the relationship between parent and child. …show more content…
By correcting this problem, the parent can work with the child or adolescent to solve the root cause of the misbehavior. This will prevent future cases of bad behavior, create an emotionally healthy child, and build a constructive parent-child relationship. If the child or adolescent is punished, it is quite likely that the problem behavior will appear again. This is why good parent-child communication is essential for positive child and adolescent