Unit 2 Blog: Is Saying “Good Job” a Bad Idea?

Source: http://www.alfiekohn.org/parenting/gj.htm

            The author Alfie Kohn argued his position on whether saying “good job” to a child is teaching him or her to rely on praises though their life. Kohn makes a good argument with his reasons but he fails to acknowledge that opinions of others will make or break a person’s character. I don’t have kids myself so I wouldn’t know how this would affect a child’s behavior, but I do know that being told “good job” makes you want to keep doing better. If you take this theory and apply it to a job, where your boss constantly tells you good job, you probably want to keep doing better to advance your career. I know from personal experience that when a boss doesn’t acknowledge my good work by complimenting me or giving me a bonus, I feel like I need to do more to gain that attention. Kohn bases his argument on the notion that saying “good job” will result in children expecting that praise when they take further steps in life. His claims don’t persuade me because throughout life “good job” comes in many different forms and people have to seek praise to advance their lives. If you constantly do everything to please yourself and not seek the approval of other people, you get stuck relying on your inner self to say “good job”.  A person can end up driving their self crazy to trying to please themselves. “Good job” comes in the form of grades in school, a good job is passing, and a bad job is failing, according to the grading system. A student must rely on a standard to exceed the expectation. That’s life. Society has shaped this thought process and parents not directly praising their children most likely get resentment and a whole slew of other problems. In my opinion it is human nature to seek acknowledgement and this will never change. Kohn uses ethos by using university professors to back some of his main points. Kohn also uses pathos to engage in the reader’s emotions by directly referring to kids which immediately gains the attention of parents. Kohn also uses logos by ordering his claims and stating direct reasoning behind his position.