REWARDS OR PUNISHMENT
KATINA WILLIAMS
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX
JEROME BARTLEY PSYCH/538
Rewards or Punishment
Children learn most of their behaviors by associating them with consequences. If a young child wants something form their parents they usually cry to get it and sometimes the parent will give in and give the child what he or she is crying for. I am against this because this is rewarding the child for their bad behavior. Why give the child a pleasurable experience for misbehaving. The child will continue to misbehave because the end result is basically commended. Children need consequences that will correct the bad behavior. Spanking the child for crying is ineffective because it does not teach in alternative behavior; instead it leaves most children feeling angry, humiliated, and helpless. Punishment is not as effective as rewards even though both gets the job done; punishment can lead to poor esteem because the child sense of self gets battered in the mist of discipline; for example as a child whenever I acted up in school my mother would punish me by spanking me in the classroom so that all of my classmates could witness it. I acted up less because of the embarrassment but it made me think that I was unworthy of any respect from anyone. Punishment is always a very unpleasant experience and should be avoided. Gershoff (2002) argues that despite the fact that physical punishment may stop bad conduct at specific instances, it does not help children ethically internalize right from wrong; it 's only a way to satisfy oneself by the means of a quick fix. Gershoff also found that the use of corporal punishment was found to increase aggressive behavior in children, more than ever in children aged 10 to 12, and amplify delinquent and rebellious behaviors in children as well as decrease their mental health well into adulthood.
Children in today’s generation do not fear being punished; therefore punishment is not effective in
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