Reinforcing Behaviors and Televison

I have experienced some students who would act out just so they would be able to receive some attention. I feel for these students because obviously they are acting out since they do not receive any attention at home or away from school. I need to make it a point to spend some extra time and give these students positive attention so they would not act out in a negative way. I have done this in the past by making a "problem" student a special helper for me. I made that student in charge of cleaning up the area or making sure the equipment is in the right place for when they were in p.e. This seemed to help some but they eventually became bored and I would have to find some other way to give them some extra attention. I thought that some of my classmates made a good point in the discussion by saying that some students wanted to go to the office because they wanted to get out of class. This is another situation where I believe an alternate form of punishment should be used in order for the students' to realize that their behavior is unacceptable.

After watching Sponge Bob Square Pants, I realized that children who watch this show my believe that the acts they watch in the show are acceptable. There were multiple aggressive verbal and physical acts throughout the show. I believe that the audience who watches this show (younger children) are susceptible to mimicking these acts because they believe they are acceptable. Although there were many negative acts, there were some positive ones. Most of the characters did help each other when a problem raised. They sometimes made the matter worse, but at least they were trying to help the other character. The advertisements also concerned me because they promoted unhealthy foods. I believe that with childhood obesity, we should be very cautious in what we expose the children to. If we constantly show them sugary snacks, then that is what they are going to gravitate to throughout their life. I feel that we need to begin to promote healthier options so the children can begin to eat a healthier diet.