Punishment Fails to Teach Socially Appropriate Behaviors
Punishment Fails to Teach Socially Appropriate Behaviors
Have you ever wondered why after you punish a child, he will most likely commit the offense again when you are not looking? The reason punishment is so ineffective in stopping an undesirable behavior is simple. Punishment is only effective for a certain period of time. Punishment does not teach students to act appropriately. Instead, it can increase undesirable behaviors. The best way to get desired behaviors is through reinforcement, either positive or negative. Positive reinforcement should replace punishment (Holub and Harrington). Punishments may have a physical, psychological, and emotional consequence. Punishment is both ineffective and harmful. Teachers may punish students for reasons unrelated to their bad behaviors, either unconsciously or for reasons they deny. According to Is Punishment an Effective Technique to Control Behavior?, "John Maag bemoans the fact that most teacher discipline for student disruption involves various forms of punishment such as removal from the classroom, fines, restitution payback, and in-school and out-school suspensions and expulsions. He believes that teachers "overlook the long-term benefits of positive reinforcement."
The first thing that we need to get straight is that negative reinforcement is different from punishment. A punishment is something negative or bad added as a consequence to an action in an attempt to stop a behavior. Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, is something bad taken away as a reinforcement or reward to strengthen a desired behavior. Positive reinforcement is adding something favorable as a reward to get a certain result. John Maag argues that teachers are ignoring data, which he believes is relatively important in our part of the world:
Researchers have typically relied on empirical data to convince people of the effectiveness of a particular technique, model, or approach. If this tactic worked, application of positive
Have you ever wondered why after you punish a child, he will most likely commit the offense again when you are not looking? The reason punishment is so ineffective in stopping an undesirable behavior is simple. Punishment is only effective for a certain period of time. Punishment does not teach students to act appropriately. Instead, it can increase undesirable behaviors. The best way to get desired behaviors is through reinforcement, either positive or negative. Positive reinforcement should replace punishment (Holub and Harrington). Punishments may have a physical, psychological, and emotional consequence. Punishment is both ineffective and harmful. Teachers may punish students for reasons unrelated to their bad behaviors, either unconsciously or for reasons they deny. According to Is Punishment an Effective Technique to Control Behavior?, "John Maag bemoans the fact that most teacher discipline for student disruption involves various forms of punishment such as removal from the classroom, fines, restitution payback, and in-school and out-school suspensions and expulsions. He believes that teachers "overlook the long-term benefits of positive reinforcement."
The first thing that we need to get straight is that negative reinforcement is different from punishment. A punishment is something negative or bad added as a consequence to an action in an attempt to stop a behavior. Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, is something bad taken away as a reinforcement or reward to strengthen a desired behavior. Positive reinforcement is adding something favorable as a reward to get a certain result. John Maag argues that teachers are ignoring data, which he believes is relatively important in our part of the world:
Researchers have typically relied on empirical data to convince people of the effectiveness of a particular technique, model, or approach. If this tactic worked, application of positive