It seems that many parents resort to using material goods-based bribery to obtain compliance from their teenaged children. Would todays teens cooperate with, and respect their parents if they weren given these items.?
The key for me it’s to start at an earlier age than the teens in the way of ingraining in children that good behavior, good deeds won’t be ALWAYS rewarded by material things. The feeling of pride and accomplishment should be reward enough along with words of encouragement and congratulations, of course. Sure, some gifts are welcomed and possibly are a good idea to give as a “prize” when setting a goal for young ones, but I as a parent try to stay away from immediate gratification, they should earn it. The bigger the effort, the bigger the reward can be, it’s all a matter of common sense and proportion. The longer some parents have set a pattern of these types of materialistic rewards, the harder it will be for them and their children to break it. Both sides have a mind-set and are conditioned by now.
