![]() From a young age, we are taught right from wrong. However, the different methods of discipline vary from different parents. There are two types of conditioning: reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement works by increasing a behavior while punishment weakens or reduces it. These forms of discipline can either be positive and negative, referring to whether something was presented or removed. Positive reinforcement strengthens a response by presenting something pleasant after the response, like praising a child for good grades, and negative reinforcement strengthens a response by reducing or removing something unpleasant, like taking painkillers to alleviate a headache. Both situations reinforce this behavior to happen again in the future. Conversely, positive punishment weakens a response by presenting something unpleasant after the response, like grounding a child after having a bad attitude, and negative punishment weakens a response by reducing or removing something pleasant, like taking away phone privileges after getting poor grades. I believe positive reinforcement works better than any type of punishment because it makes a person feel better. In order to prove this theory, I asked students at school what method of discipline they find most appropriate and effective. Some agreed that positive reinforcement is the way to go, specifically verbal praise or physical rewards. However, contrary to my belief, the majority of students interviewed felt that negative punishment is most effective. Taking away phone privileges was a common theme mentioned by those that thought reducing a pleasant stimulus was the more compelling method of discipline. Similarly, students felt the next best form of discipline is positive punishment. All who mentioned this type of conditioning said that timeouts would work best for children. While a good amount of interviewees believe presenting an unpleasant stimulus is a good way to weaken a certain behavior in children, all agreed that violence is never the answer. One student suggested that inflicting violent actions might result in aggression and rebelliousness as children grow older. Overall, from the collected data, I found that punishment may be the more effective method of discipline. Whether it is adding an unpleasant stimulus or removing a pleasant stimulus, it can be seen that punishment has a greater effect than reinforcement. Although, the collected data cannot accurately represent the true most effective method of discipline because only teenage girls were interviewed. Research actually shows that reinforcement is more effective. Nonetheless, it still goes to show the impactful effect of punishment in their lives. While every parent is entitled to their own ways of raising their children, the repercussions should be considered. Again, different methods of discipline vary from parent to parent and what is meant to be a punishment to one child might come across as a reinforcement to another. Take, for example, the class clown who gets in trouble. While the teacher will call him out and punish him for being disruptive, he is actually given reinforcement in getting the attention he sought out all along. What then is the best way to discipline a child?
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