to bribe or not to bribe that is the question

[gorionine]

Is it better to say to a child ""If you do not finish your homework/plate... you will not watch your favourite programm."" or ""If you finish your plate/homework... you will watch your favourite programme""
Or is there no difference at all, I was just wondering.

In an ideal world it is best not to offer rewards for things they should be doing anyway

But back on planet earth - bribe the bugger away

I am a great believer in bribery, but the promised/confiscated thing has to be carried through if conditions arent met, otherwise your reasoning is baseless.

I was more wondering on the lines of the way things are said, like the first version is not bribery but the second is in spite of both actually meaning the very same thing IYSWIM?

Which version do children react best to?

I tihnk the trick is to leave out the little word 'if', and just tell it to them straight. "When you finish your homework you can watch your programme" that way it isn't bribery, just an incentive.

Even adults work well with incentives like these, or things to look forward to, even if we set them for ourselves.

Just ditch the 'if'

the first version is a threat, children are likely to react negatively to that, the secodn version is a bribe and while not bad occasionally isn't an ideal habit to get into, the thrid version, leaving out the 'if', is just a fact, a stating of a sequence of events, and has the best results imo.

That answers my question perfecly, overmydeadbody. Incredible the negative difference a two letter word can add!

Yeah it is amazing the power of words and chooing which ones to use and which ones not to use.

It really is very important. Glad I could help!