by Timou

Created on: June 25, 2009

Should children be bribed to help with household chores? This question is, to me, fundamentally flawed.

Before one can even attempt to respond, a clear definition must be made of what constitutes bribery. Bribery, by its dictionary definition, involves a transaction, monetary or otherwise, that seeks to corrupt a person's behavior. We must then question ourselves, is promising a child a cookie for dessert in return for cleaning the dishes a form of bribery? Does that offer, in any way, corrupt the behavior of the child? Or does it simply provide a stronger incentive for accomplishing that chore? If you agree with the latter, then you must also agree with me that this topic is already flawed and is not conducive to an intellectual discourse.

However, let me try to respond to the question on whether incentives should be laid out for a child to help out with chores. My answer to that would be a resounding yes.

A child, by virtue of youth and the lack of experience, needs to be guided and taught what is right, and what is wrong. What should be done, and what should not. Ivan Pavlov has shown that operant conditioning and positive reinforcement is an effective method of teaching a sentient being to perform a given set of actions. The promise of a cookie in exchange for doing the dishes provides this positive reinforcement when the child successfully performs the given chore, and is a methodological approach of teaching the child which chores need to be done.

But apart from this rather mechanical view of providing incentives, one should also explore the potential moral implications in doing so. To this, I would say, what exactly is this moral high ground that detractors claim to have? Parent and child share a special relationship, especially during the child's formative years that is to nurture and care for the child who does not know better. Does that not include doing the chores, if that is what is necessary to provide a safe, hygienic environment for the child to grow and develop? In other words, the responsibility of doing chores should fall on the parent. Now, if the parent wants the child to take over some of the responsibility, then the child needs to be taught to do so. The provision of incentives to achieve this goal once again comes into the picture. Furthermore, the use of incentives is all the more unavoidable in this era of technological advancement that provides many alternative outlets for a child to expend his/her energy and time.

In summary, I firmly believe that it is not wrong to use incentives for a child to help out with chores.

Learn more about this author, Timou.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.