Alfie Kohn

2006 - 2007 Common Ground Speaker

UNCONDITIONAL PARENTING: Beyond Bribes and Threats

What do kids need to be good learners and good people? Conventional approaches to parenting emphasize rewards (e.g., positive reinforcements), and punishments (e.g., time-outs) — both of which teach children that they are loved only if they please or impress us. Join us as Alfie Kohn explains why these carrots and sticks are counterproductive over the long haul and how all children have one basic need — to be loved unconditionally. He will share ideas for working with children rather than doing things to them as we try to raise healthy, caring, responsible young adults. Alfie Kohn is a nationally respected educator and author of eleven books on education, parenting, and human behavior. His criticisms of competition and rewards have helped to shape the thinking of educators, parents, and corporate managers across the country and abroad. His books include: Unconditional Parenting; Punished by Rewards; No Contest: The Case Against Competition; The Schools Our Children Deserve; and The Case Against Standardized Testing.