It is important to
involve punishment when educating children so that they can distinguish right
and wrong. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this notion?
Knowing the difference between right and wrong is very important
to be taught to children of younger age. I agree with the notion of teaching
the difference between right and wrong by involving the use of punishment with
some considerations. This essay aims to propose some reasons why coercion is
needed in early age education along with some explanations on the extent of the
use of coercive teaching for children.
Most people are against the use of punishment when teaching moral
to children. They argue that coercive method may limit creativity and result in
a severe psychological damage. In a family that has more democratic sense of
education, the process of value internalization is done by using more
persuasive way such as challenging others’ opinion in an open conversation,
giving suggestion and critics, or even proposing solutions and feedback if it’s
deemed necessary. However, this method is not always in accordance with the
need of children of early stage learning. This may be because children simply
do not aware that right and joy always come along with responsibilities,
especially when dealing with the social norms and values. In this case,
coercive practice in a form of punishment may be necessary to give a solid base
of education and moral.
Some people prefer to apply punishment and reward when teaching
their children. According to behaviorism theory, values and norms are better
taught by means of repetition, internalization, and evaluation. Repetition
consists of mimicking sayings and actions that comply with social values and
norms. When the values and norms are understood by the children, they will do
it in real actions and this may lead to acquisition in which they finally
acquire the understanding the do and the don’t in social context. For them who
already got the idea and implement it actual actions, reward in forms of social
acceptance and affection are given. These reward will eventually reinforce the
internalization and lead to other social learning stage.
However, some children may fail in one or more stages that
coercion has to be applied. Punishment can be done as an alternative of early
education. It ranges from verbal punishment to physical punishment. Verbal is
usually done by parents by telling their children not to do bad things such as
going to bed late, not brushing their teeth, and so on. Physical punishment is
somehow more common in academic setting. Teachers sometimes pinch, or hit their
students using a ruler to teach that what they are doing is wrong. There has
been a long debate about whether or not a physical punishment is allowed. In my
opinion, it is okay to punish children physically as long as it’s meant for
educational purpose. It is believed that physical coercion is quite effective
to teach them that society has rules and the failure to be adherent to such
rules may lead to certain consequences.
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