Punish your children with reading?

Question

Would anyone here, current parents or not, punish their children by making them read a book?

(I'm asking because the parents on Nanny 911 did that tonight and I was appalled, and couldn't believe someone would actually do that)

Also want to clarify that the parents were doing this - NOT the nanny, and that I would never do this myself

Answer 1

No, children should look at reading as something enjoyable, not something to do when they are in trouble. I have though, when the kids are not allowed to watch tv, told them to read a book instead.

Answer 2

I too was appalled when I saw this on nanny 911 ( I mentioned to my husband right after the show). It definately was the parents and not the nanny. I would never use reading as a punishment. How can this child ever be able to enjoy reading and what a negative impact on his education when he is being taught that reading is a punishment and thus a negative thing.

Answer 3

I use to teach Science in the High School System. And the English teacher begged the other teachers not to punish the students with Reading or Writing assignments as that made it harder for them to make students see that reading and writing was a good thing. I personally agree with them. It is very human to associate things together, especially to associate stuff with bad things. How many times have you eaten something and got sick, after words vowed to never eat that thing again even when you were not sure what made you sick to begin with. That is only one example, some adults will not swim because they had a near death experience with water and drowning as a child.

Dont punish kids by making them do things that are of a value to them. This excludes thinking. If you punish them make them do nothing is a good punishment. The problem with punishing a child is that you got to stick with the punishment to make the punishment work. All to often the child will know if I complain enough the person will 'lighten the sentence' or give up. Do not give in unless you know you are wrong for the punishment to begin with.

Answer 4

This does not sound like a good idea. I don't think Oprah has ever seen reading as a punishment. With that thought though you could have 2 children punished with reading. One could gain a love for books and become a writer and the other might despise school and the written word in any form. My Husbands Mother made them eat potato soup allot. My DH (middle child) hates it to this day but his sister make is because it is economical. His baby brother, on the other hand, wants me to make it when I come to visit. There is a 2 year difference between each of them. We never really know, so I say why run the risk of negative results. I had to iron every ones underwear when I was younger for punishment. I still iron but trust me I hate to iron.

Answer 5

First off let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed reading as a kid. My reading days came to an abrupt end when my parents made me stay in my room doing nothing but reading books and writing book reports for three months straight. I couldn't watch television, listen to music, or talk on the phone. The only time I was allowed to come out of my room was to go to the restroom or eat dinner. Another thing I would like to say is that children do not respond to that type of punishment. They will only hate you in the end and rebell. I am 27 years old to date and I still don't like to read and my husband reads all the time. I miss reading and would love to pick it back up but just can't. I'm against parents making their children read books as punishment

Answer 6

No. I want to encourage reading. Never would I punish a child by reading, for that would send the message that reading is unpleasent.

Those nanny 911 people aren't as good as they think they are.

Answer 7

You must have seen Nanny 911 tonight. No, I would not punish my children by reading because when they have to read when they get older they will see it as a punishment.

Answer 8

Why would any intelligent person use reading as a punishment.Children should be encouraged to read at an early age.Reading should always be seen as a pleasure not a punishment. Let them pick out their books,join the library,etc.Success in life depends upon strong literacy skills.

Answer 9

NEVER! That will make a child associate poorly with reading their whole life. They wont ever want to read because they'll think of it as punishment, & hate it. Never, Never. As also you should never reward with food! For the same reason, the child will grow up to associate food/treats with happiness, not nourishment, and over do it given the freedom, possibly resulting in obesity!

Answer 10

Spanking am your 16 year old daughter is not okay. You are teaching her it's okay for a man to hit her. She sees you smoking, so she thinks it's not that big of a deal. Punish her by having her watch videos on the effects of smoking or writing a 2 page paper on smoking. Spanking her is only going to make her hate you and be better at hiding her smoking later. If you don't want her to smoke, stop smoking the cigar yourself and tell her you have stopped smoking to take care of your health.

Answer 11

NO! If you make reading a punishment they will never learn to enjoy it. Reading is so fundamental that making it a punishment will only hurt the child in the long run.