A prize or a Bribe?
Posted by admin on 16th May and posted in Behaviour
A Prize or a Bribe?
Aruna Sankaranarayanan
Parents often use the lure of rewards to get children to obey. “If you keep your room neat this whole term, I will buy you the toy you want.” “If you complete your homework before 6 O’clock, you can watch TV for half an hour.” However, some parents have reservations about rewarding children for expected behaviours. Their concerns range from indulging materialistic tendencies in children to making them dependent on rewards to perform.
According to psychologists Cathy Creswell and Lucy Willetts, it is wrong to use rewards to make children do things that benefit the parents but not the child. But they argue that rewards may be used to motivate children “to do something specifically because it will benefit him or her in the future.” We are giving the child a reward only because she finds a particular behaviour difficult. Once the behaviour becomes easy for the child, the reward will not be necessary as the child will not put up resistance to do it anymore. Rewards can then be used for other goals.
Behaviour modification programs attest to the effectiveness of rewards, provided they are given in the correct manner. Typically, the reward has to be in proportion to the expected behaviour. For more expensive rewards, a child can earn a token each time he demonstrates the expected behaviour. He has to then collect a predetermined number of token before receiving the reward. As far as possible, rewards work best when given immediately after the child exhibits the desired behaviour.
Yes, parents have to be cautious and judicious in how they reward children. Knowing that Sarala really wants an iPad, does not mean that her parents buy it for her the moment she complies to their demands. Further, parents may use activities like going to a restaurant, having a sleepover with friends or baking a cake as rewards.
Reference:
Creswell, C. & Willetts, L. (2007) Overcoming your child’s feats & worries. London: constable & Robinson Ltd.
(The author is Director, PRAYATNA.)

