Hey all,
I’m looking for some advice on some age appropriate punishments for my four year old when they hit/push/scratch. My older, 8 yearold is easier to pick punishments for, because we can limit or restrict certain things they like to do, but because my four year old is still in a go with the flow phase, it is a bit harder. What ideas do you have?
Behaviourism (reward/punish to influence behaviour) was revolutionary 100 years ago, it’s pretty outdated by today’s educational paedagogy.
You might get a few short term “wins”, but all you’re doing long term is teaching them to focus on the reward. They’re not learning an intrinsic value to the actions, and as such will be less likely to follow through once you’re not in the picture to punish/reward (e.g. at school, as teenagers doing teenager things, etc)
Source? And what’s your alternative to reduce hitting behavior in this case? Reminder we’re talking about a 3 year old