Praise Versus Not.

While attending one of my classes, a topic of debate was if children were praised TOO much for good behavior.

The viewpoint of those that agreed with praise essentially held the belief that praise is necessary in order to manage children's behavior. It was said, in short, that children that understand what is bad and good behavior through praise will gravitate towards the good behavior. This, of course, was the majority of the arguments that consisted of my classmates. Naturally arguments did vary, it was argued also that children need excessive praise as this is a better fit with today's cooperate structure in "real world" jobs.

Those that were opposed to praise typically argued that praise is a tool that can hurt kids in reality, as opposed to helping them. It was said that praise, although helpful, can transform children into being reliant on feedback from others. This was said to be a bad thing because children would only do behaviors that have an end result of positive feedback, essentially not allowing kids to"think outside the box".

I find it difficult to really make an ultimate decision on this matter. Personally, I feel praise is a tool that can mold children's behavior in a good way, although the overuse of praise can be best defined as a slippery slope. I do believe that the cooperate structure of today does need individuals that rely on positive feedback, although one does wonder that where leaders (CEOs and managers in this case) come from if they are reliant on this feedback. So it is my belief that praise should be used but absolutely not overused (when I say overused I mean that I feel that praise should not be used for EVERYTHING, ie. saying "good job" to a 10 year old child for using the bathroom).

As always, I encourage you guys and gals to spark up a conversation in the comments section!! Comment, reply to others or even ask me questions. 

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