The Major Problems with Punishment
List and discuss the major problems with punishment.
- Punishment is quick and easy to administer.
- When punishment is used, students have varied options.
- Students are likely to imitate and observe the teacher’s behaviors.
- The effects of punishment may never last or might not be generalized.
- Punishment involves very little student learning.
Punishment is the infliction of some pain or loss upon an individual for misbehavior. Therefore, punishment might take different forms, ranging from capital punishment, forced labor, mutilation, and body flogging to fines and imprisonment. There are various problems with punishments, as listed above. First, punishment is quick and easy to administer, and educators might depend on it as their first line of defense for unwanted conduct (Yell et al., 2013). This might lead to misuse or overuse of punishment, and students might get to fear or avoid the teacher or even the whole environment where punishment naturally occurs.
Secondly, when punishment is used, students often have varied options. The students always have the option of striking back. A student might reduce the unwanted behavior, the learner can withdraw, and they can avoid or escape behavior worse than the actual behavior being punished. Thirdly, students are more likely to imitate and observe teachers’ behaviors. The most powerful and basic form of student learning occurs through imitation and observation (Yell et al., 2013). Since the teacher is the most prominent figure in the classroom, learners closely attend to their behavior, and a tutor is the role model. If the teacher constantly hits, threatens, or yells at students, the learners will copy the aggressive behaviors of the teacher.
The fourth issue is that the effects of punishment might never last or be generalized. This means the effects of punishment might be highly specific or temporary. Yet, students always adapt to mild forms of punishment like verbal reprimands for the punishing effects to be lost over time. Lastly, punishments entail little student learning. Educators punish their students for minimizing their undesirable behaviors, but punishment never results in students learning any alternative or conventional forms of behavior (Yell et al., 2013).
Reference
Yell, M. L., Meadows, N. B., Drasgow, E., & Shriner, J. G. (2013). Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Boston, MA: Pearson.
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Question
Punishment
List and discuss the major problems with punishment.