Is Bribing Your Child a Bad Idea

Any expert in parenting would advise you against bribing your child. Hence, most of the parents think that bringing the child can do more harm than good. Still, most of the parents bribe their children on a number of occasions. Why the bribing is considered a bad idea when it comes to parenting the small children? Below discussed are some most common opinions by the parents, and also the reasons why giving incentives for good work can actually be helpful.

Opinion: Children should not be rewarded for obeying

This reason doesn’t make much sense in the practical world. How can anybody expect their children to obey them immediately without expecting even a pat on the back? Children are the naïve ones, and they are naturally bound to refuse to a lot of things which they should do. Even the adults find it difficult doing a lot of things which they should do only because they don’t see any benefit in those tasks.

So, the real solution in this regard is to find the win/win solutions. However, the announcement of reward should be made in the beginning, not in the middle when child starts misbehaving. If you announce it in the middle, the child would get impression that it’s OK to use misbehavior as a tool to make the parents offering rewards.

Opinion: They wouldn’t get rewards when they will get old

This is also wrong. They get the paycheck when they do the work. And when they do exceptionally good work, they get the bonus too. They get the tax cut when they pay for charity. And above all, they get the good health when they focus on having good diet. Just because the world is cruel, the children shouldn’t be made to sleep under the open sky in chilly weather. Providing them cover and giving them rewards on good deeds can actually encourage them to be kind and compassionate. They wouldn’t be punitive.

Opinion: children show very less of the good behavior when they are rewarded for it

Now this is the opinion that all of us can agree upon. Incentives and rewards cannot be announced for showing the good behavior. Remember, there should be encouragement of good behavior for bringing a change in the mindset and overall attitude. And when we announce the rewards, the children think of good behavior as something which would get them the reward. As a result, the purity will be lost.

Good behavior is actually a characteristic which teaches us to be selfless. Hence, offering a reward for showing this characteristic can have adverse effects.

Hence, children shouldn’t be offered any reward for showing good behavior. They will focus on reward rather than taking any interest in showing good behavior. However, you can show them the results of good behavior if you want then to take interest in repeating the behavior.