In my opinion, it’s important for children to develop a sense of knowing the difference between right and wrong at an early age. However, punishment isn’t the only way to help them learn this distinction.
First of all, young children are exploring the world by interacting with their peers, family, and other adults. They learn behaviors from people around them, either consciously or subconsciously. They perform these behaviors without knowing these are good or bad deed unless people educate them by instilled the concept into them. Therefore, to grow the children into a good being…teaching them to tell right from wrong is very crucial.
Some people insist that punishment be necessary to help children form so-called “good behaviors.” I, personally, don’t agree with this opinion. As a mother of two kids, I’ve always deemed “punishment” as the last method. When children make mistakes, it’s important to look into the reason why they do so rather than pay attention to what trouble they make. In my experience, children don’t mean to do things like cheating, stealing, or hurting people most of the time. As long as their parents and teachers listen to them and understand their cause of behaviors patiently, they would be able to properly guide and educate the children, leading them to become a better person.
Admittedly, punishment is inevitable in schools and society. It’s undoubtedly an effective way to help teachers and administrators to maintain the order of an environment. It’s a miniature system, just like how law and penalty work in our society. For me, to teach good behavior to children, the punishment could be applied without verbal abuses or physical mental damages.