Punishment vs reward--which is better???

Question

i have to do a psychology project and its about Punishment vs Reward in children...im gonna research which is the right choice...can u give me websites of sourses that support either punishment or reward....i need both but u can give me wat u can....thanks in advance

Answer 1

I don't think either is helpful. Rewarding a child to do something is bribery and punishment makes them angry especially if they don't think it is fair, this happens a lot in schools. I beleive children want to be good and get along with people but it takes them awhile to realise that other people have feelings and a point of view. When my son does something that I don't like I tell him how I feel then he can't argue with me.

Answer 2

I think they go hand in hand. It's important for children to be rewarded for good behavior as well as being punished for the bad. I think too often parents these days focus on the negative--not the positive. I guess we're just all pessimistic people these days! In my opinion if you only rewarded a child (or bribed them) you would end up with a child who only would do "good" when the parent was around because he would get a reward. At the same time a child who is constantly punished for bad behavior would end up the same way. An equal amount of both is a great thing. I'll give you an example. A five year old boy hit a cat--not too violently but he did hit it. I'd put him in "time-out" and explain to him what he had done. (The crime would fit the punishment--depending on the severity of what the boy had done) The next time if he petted the cat--I'd say something along the lines of "what a great little boy--I bet the cat really likes you." I guess I don't really believe in reward unless it's in a verbal form. I will never tell my kids--since you've been such good little boys you can have ____. I want my kids to feel good about themselves by praise--and not by an object. I hope this helps--this is my prefered method of disipline--positive reinfocement AND punishment. I'm also including a website--to which I don't agree with the pshycologist and don't use any of his parenting on my children--but can be very useful in reaserch papers.

Answer 3

i dont have any websites but my opinion is that punishment is the right choice. not to say that kids shouldnt be rewarded sometimes because they should, but only when they did something out of the ordinary or do extra things without being told or just take it upon themselves to do something good. But if a child is rewarded for just doing the normal everyday things, like for example, if they did their chores or finished their homework, they shouldnt get rewarded. They should know that those are things that MUST be done, that they arent doing anything spectacular by finishing those things. If they get rewarded each time, they are going to go through life EXPECTING to get something for mediocre things that they need to do on a daily. Then when the day comes that they dont get anything, then there is a problem. No what we need to do is make sure that the children do the things that are necessary every day, if they dont, they will be punished, like no TV, no phone, no going out with friends, whatever bothers the child the most. This way they know that they have to be responsible.

Answer 4

For me, reward is better.. in order to build up their confidence, we need to encourage & motivate them.. if we are going to give punishment, we must let them understand first, why they are being punish in the first place, so the act will not be repeated. fears bring trauma which might not be healthy to the mental and psychological growth of the child