Research that benefits Children and Families

Option # 2

"Positive Reinforcement" with Children

Positive Reinforcement with children has been a topic of interest to me since I have been working in the early childhood field. I was told that rewarding a child for bad behavior is not healthy. But personally I see things differently. I believe that children who portray bad behavior at an early age should be encouraged to positive-motivate reinforcement. I’m not a researcher and I have not done a study on this particular topic, but working in the early childhood field, you come in contact with children who maybe more challenging than others; with this being said, we must find methods to work with children on all levels.

I do believe that a child who continuously shows bad behavior should not be rewarded, if this behavior has become a pattern, than other options should be seek. This child will start to realize that he/she can continue to show bad behavior and still be rewarded for it; which is not healthy.

Now on the other hand, when it comes to “positive reinforcement”, research states that you run a very hi risk of training them to just grow-up to be approval seekers who won’t be self-motivated to do things as they grow up to be adults, unless they are  highly motivated and rewarded.

The bigger problem is that there really seems to be a lot of evidence that suggests that positive reinforcement as a technique for getting a child to do something actually trains them to be extrinsically motivated… meaning they’ll grow up to be the kind of adult who won’t do anything unless they have something to gain for it.
And the evidence seems to suggest that these types of children grow up to be adults who won’t share, help, or give their all, unless they’re being compensated fairly to do so; instead of growing up to be intrinsically motivated to do things, even if there’s not an immediate payoff.

The Positive Contribution

Even though there have been some studies on positive reinforcement and the affect it has on children; my theory of positive reinforcement would be the term “favorable.” If encouraging children to do well by rewarding them with incentives such as happy face stickers, treats, and high fives than I will continue to do so. I work with Pre-school children and some are more challenging than others, whether it’s with learning or behavior issues. I encourage positive behavior with my children through stickers, favorite treats, games, and etc. I find these to be motivating and encouraging. And the children who are more challenging than others are the ones I implement this to the most. And I really see a difference. As children become adolescence, I believe they will learn very quickly that society will not be rewarded them for negative or bad behavior. This is why children should be taught early in life the does and don’ts in what are expected of them. I have had parents to tell me that they see a difference in their child abilities to do well in school and with their peers, and that their behavior has changed a great deal than before. I hope to continue to do research and studies on "Positive Reinforcement" in the early childhood field; for I believe that it is very important to understand that children and families need to know what works for their child/children to be motivated.

Natural and Social Reinforcement are to reinforcements that I highly recommend and utilize in my classroom.

*Natural Reinforcement occurs when a natural consequence for a certain behavior increases, hoping the behavior will occur in the future.

*Social Reinforcement entails consequences for behavior such as a smile, high five, and a tickle.     

Using Positive Reinforcement to increase Desired Behavior, Dr. Debra Leach EdD, BCBA

www.centralreach.com/articles/using-positive-reinforcement-to-increase-desired-behaviors/www.centralreach.com/articles/using-positive-reinforcement-to-increase-desired-behaviors/