Privilege (education)

In the educational discourse, particularly in English-speaking countries, a privilege is understood to be an advantage that a child enjoys in his or her parents' home (e.g. television, pets, game dates); a privilege is based on the child's desire and goes beyond what is due to him as a right and a necessity.

Importance in education

Wendy Mogel explains that using the family phone is a privilege that children cannot take for granted.

American family therapist Wendy Mogel has dealt in depth with privileges . She attributes many of the behavioral problems that are typical for well-protected middle-class children to the fact that parents do not really know how to differentiate between the needs and wishes of their children. Mogel differentiates between what children need (respectful treatment, healthy food, practical and comfortable clothing, medical care, education, etc.) and what children desire (e.g. time at the computer or iPod, sweets, items of clothing of a certain kind Brand). Everything that children do not need in this sense, but still receive from their parents, is defined as privileges.

Many parents comply with their children's wishes because they see them as needs . Mogel sees one reason for this disorientation in the child's natural inability to distinguish between needs and desires, and in the language skills with which many children present the parents with things they want as fundamental rights or as indispensable necessities. She advises parents to redefine “permissions” that their child believes their child has but that are not necessary for the child's healthy upbringing as privileges; Privileges have to be earned, especially by helping out around the house .

Withdrawal of privileges

In the western world today, privilege deprivation is one of the most widespread forms of child punishment ; many educators also find them helpful. Since this withdrawal usually has no objective connection with the behavior to be punished, the effectiveness of this educational tool is doubted by other authors.

literature

Larry J. Koenig: Smart Discipline: Fast, Lasting Solutions For Your Child's Self-Esteem and Your Peace of Mind . HarperCollins, 2004, ISBN 0-06-621239-1 .
Alyson Schafer: Honey, I Wrecked the Kids: When Yelling, Screaming, Threats, Bribes, Time-outs, Sticker Charts and Removing Privileges All Don't Work . Wiley, 2009, ISBN 0470156031 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Wendy Mogel: The Blessings of a Skinned Knee : Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children , New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Singapore: Scribner, 2001, ISBN 0-684-86297-2 , p. 122 (Hardcover; limited online version in Google Book Search - USA )
^ The Blessings of a Skinned Knee, p. 205
^ Noel Swanson: The Good Child Guide , Allegretto Publishing, 2007, p. 59; Michael Gurian: The Good Son: Shaping the Moral Development of Our Boys and Young Men , Penguin / Putnam, 1999, ISBN 978-1-1011-9155-2
↑ Elissa P. Benedek, Catherine F. Brown: Divorce: How Do I Help Our Child? , Stuttgart: Thieme, 1997, ISBN 3-89373-369-8 , p. 196

[blessings122-1] Wendy Mogel: The Blessings of a Skinned Knee : Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children , New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Singapore: Scribner, 2001, ISBN 0-684-86297-2 , p. 122 (Hardcover; limited online version in Google Book Search - USA )

[2] The Blessings of a Skinned Knee, p. 205

[3] Noel Swanson: The Good Child Guide , Allegretto Publishing, 2007, p. 59; Michael Gurian: The Good Son: Shaping the Moral Development of Our Boys and Young Men , Penguin / Putnam, 1999, ISBN 978-1-1011-9155-2

[4] Elissa P. Benedek, Catherine F. Brown: Divorce: How Do I Help Our Child? , Stuttgart: Thieme, 1997, ISBN 3-89373-369-8 , p. 196