Is punishment necessary to help children learn the difference between right and wrong? Education, especially early childhood education, has always been a hot topic currently. Some people argue that punishment is an indispensable part of both parenting and teaching to instruct children to distinguish between right and wrong. Personally, I barely agree with this opinion. Almost every kind of punishment is time-consuming and counterproductive. First of all, corporal punishment has a detrimental impact on children not only physically, but also psychologically. And it may even bring trauma to children. Moreover, children who suffer from physical abuse are more likely to develop a tendency of violence, thereby breaking the law when they grow up. Secondly, verbal abuse contributes to the scarcity of self-confidence. At the same time, as children's behavior stems from imitating their parents, youngsters, treated with hurling insults and threats, tend to lack communication skills and thus are isolated by peers. If there is a sort of so-called "proper" punishment, it should be combined with rewards. Children can typically not distinguish between right and wrong, because we human being acquire knowledge about values and justice instead of being born with it. Parents and teachers, wanting children to behave well, are well-advised to make an arduous effort to impart what is correct and what children with perfect performance would be awarded. Instructed appropriately, children can always meet the expectation of their instructors. In case of children failing to act properly, rewards should be deprived as retribution. Positive behaviors would be reinforced by the formed benign cycle. To summary, I, as a mother of a five-year-old boy, insist that only the punishment properly combined with rewards can play a positive role in teaching children to learn the difference between correct and incorrect.