Parental Punishment in Home Education

Abstract

Parental Punishment (PP) is a form of family education that has been misinterpreted from the traditional Chinese culture of filial piety. It relies heavily on the behaviorist mechanism of reward and punishment. But punishment not only makes children feel anxious and unsure of themselves but in the worst cases it can worsen the parent-child relationship. It is also clear from a cognitivist perspective that such an approach to education does not help children to understand the problem itself and its rationale. That it is difficult for children to discover the reasons for their mistakes on their own. Therefore, I question this approach and propose three alternatives that can achieve the same or even better results: utilize positive rewards, teach metacognitive strategies, and change childrens social sphere. Based on these alternatives, I conclude that we should do more to educate and raise the awareness of parents in the face of family education problems. This will improve the situation to a greater extent.