Reply To: chinuch and discipline nowadays

Home Forums Decaffeinated Coffee chinuch and discipline nowadays Reply To: chinuch and discipline nowadays

#2010908
The little I know
Participant

Chinuch and discipline are opposite sides of a coin. Chinuch is treaching your child or talmid what to do. Discipline is teaching what NOT to do. In fact, discipline does not teach. It controls. It has its place. When this becomes the primary mode of raising children, we have a state of confusion over our mission and responsibility.

Discipline can sometimes be used to teach, but this requires creativity. Typical punishments can result, at best, in the inhibition of unwanted behavior. But that fails to teach.

It is also noteworthy that the use of reward and punishment is primitive. It is useful in the training of animals, pets, laboratory animals. That is all that can be done with these creatures. I would like my children to know that behaving properly is something to be valued. That does not happen with an external reward, nor would punishment accomplish that.