Appropriate Punishment I thought it was very interesting when we discussed punishment and positive and negative reinforcement in class. I think it is very important to use positivereinforcement just as much as negative reinforcement. I also found it interestingthat when you punish a child, you should do nine good things to make up for the onebad punishment.We discussed spanking in class also. I personally have never been spanked, butthat is only because my father was physically abused by his father, so my dad choosesto punish his children in other ways. However, I do not agree with the way my parentschose to punish me. When I was in high school, I went through a time where I chose notto study. I also decided to experiment some with drinking, which I would soon find outthat a fourteen year old girl had no business doing this! To make a long story short,my parents found out that I had gone to a party and consumed alcholic beverages and Iwas grounded for what seemed like eternity. Now I agree that I deserved to be grounded, but not as strictly as I was. I was grounded from the television, the telephone, my friends, and I could'nt even do anything on the weekends. I could not even go tomy grandmother's house to spend the night. I really feel like my parents were way to harsh on me. They never hugged me or comforted me when I was about to go insane frombordem.I think it is very important for parents and teachers to sit down and discussappropriate punishment with their children. This way the child atleast has a little input into it. I feel like grounding your children for over a month does much moreharm than good.I plan to really look at the studies that have been done on positive andnegative reinforcement. Hopefully when I have a classroom of my own and my ownchildren at home, I can use better strategies than those of my parents....
