Use of punishment as part of the education process [full title in the text] [Title] It is important for children to learn the difference between right and wrong at an early age. Punishment is necessary to help them learn this distinction. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? What sort of punishment should parents and teachers be allowed to use to teach good behaviour to children? [/Title] We are responsible for the future of our world and society. This has several implications, but the most important one is probably educating the next generation. However, despite being such a crucial task, it still lacks a clear and acknowledged method. As a result, educators, both parents and teachers, use their own, hoping for the best. One of the most popular laws of old school education is the so-called "reinforcement". If a child has a good behavior he or she should have a prize, while if they behave badly, they should be punished. In this way, the child associates nice feelings to certain behaviors and unpleasant ones to others. However, this method relies entirely on this empty, almost mechanic, association, without focusing on the explanation at its base. Punishing a child for specific behaviors won't teach him or her what is wrong, but just to avoid those specific behaviors or, growing up, how to sneak by adults and avoid being caught. The only way to rise a new generation able to discriminate between right and wrong is to teach them to think rationally, explaining them why certain things are acceptable and others are not. In no circumstances a child should be punished. A scolding is enough, if followed by a clear explanation. This is the only punishment that educators, in my view, should be allowed to use. Children are humans who still need to learn how things work. Making decisions is part of that complex process of trials and errors also known as experience.