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2 years ago ::
Mar 17, 2011 - 9:23PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Apr 27, 2006
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D&D Tutorials
D&D Kids: Punishment
Teaching Young Gamersby Uri Kurlianchik The whip is of course metaphorical, unless held in the hands of a balor, in which case—run for your lives! Talk about this Tutorial here. 
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 6:21AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Mar 31, 2009
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EDIT: I'm editing my forum post because I believe that the article was meant to have a sarcastic slant to it, kind of a wink-wink to those of us with kids. ----- If you want to read something a bit more positive regarding gaming with kids, check out an article I wrote this week for BoingBoing about my experiences gaming with my 4 year old daughter. bit.ly/fBbk2mI think you'll get a different perspective about kids and gaming. After reading this article here, why would anyone want to game with kids, it makes it seem like it's more trouble than it's worth....?
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 6:27AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Apr 17, 2008
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I blogged my response to the article here: boldpueblo.com/dazed/2011/03/how-to-puni...In short, I am pretty appalled that Wizards would publish this dreadful article as a tutorial.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 6:52AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Jul 18, 2007
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"Severe transgressions, such as reading your DM notes, damage to people and property, or highly inappropriate remarks should be punished harshly. In rare cases, even the extreme measure of removing levels can be used, although this will often be a prelude to kicking the offender out of the group."
Absolutely, 100% correct. Children must be disciplined to learn - that applies when playing games just as much as it does anywhere - though, I'm sure, there will plenty of braindead armchair quarterbacks whining about how 'wrong' this article is.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 6:53AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Mar 18, 2011
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I have children, the oldest of whom has just started playing D&D. I found this article repulsive. These suggestions would have turned me off to playing D&D instantly when I was of the age of the players listed in this article (I started playing when the original Red Box was released). A significant number of children who are into these games already suffer enough humiliation at the hands of their peers in their day to day lives - why would anyone see this as okay?
If anyone thinks this is acceptable methodology to use when approaching D&D with children, they need to reconsider playing the game with children at all.
I hope someone at Wizards of the Coast will employ some common sense in regards to this article.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 7:09AM
#6
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It is the 2nd part of a two-series articles. The first deals with the positive side and how to reward good behavior. This part deals with how to deal with bad behavior. It feels a bit tongue-in-the-cheek, and a bit simplified for column purposes (to trigger a discussion). I am really not sure how to deal appropriately with kids acting in the described fashion, but I agree that how this is described does not sit right with me either. For one thing, I hate punishing IC for OOC reasons. It does not work for adults, so why would it work for kids?
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 7:18AM
#7
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Date Joined:
May 29, 2004
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Part of the problem is that the prevailing theories regarding behavior modification explain that the best way to modify bad behavior, especially at the elementary school level, is to support and reward good behavior. Negative attention (punishment) is still attention, and reinforces the behavior you're trying to eliminate. A better way to manage these children is to reward them for the wanted behavior, and ignore the undesired behavior (as long as that behavior is not harmful) - so with the "Astronaut" kid, give him a +1 to hit with that Elven Accuracy reroll the first few times he uses it correctly without cueing. Even in situations where the negative behavior is harmful, providing the child with a better choice rather than a punishment is a more effective and desirable way to manage behavior. There are points at which the behavior, if consistent enough and harmful enough, means that the activity can't support the child, but that should only be the case after repeated attempts to deal with the negative behavior via positive behavior support.
John du Bois
Living Forgotten Realms Writing Director, Netheril story area
Follow me on The Twitter: @JohnduBois
Follow my presence on The Intertubes: johncdubois.wordpress.com
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 7:22AM
#8
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Date Joined:
Mar 18, 2011
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Thank you for posting this. Part of the problem is that the prevailing theories regarding behavior modification explain that the best way to modify bad behavior, especially at the elementary school level, is to support and reward good behavior. Negative attention (punishment) is still attention, and reinforces the behavior you're trying to eliminate. A better way to manage these children is to reward them for the wanted behavior, and ignore the undesired behavior (as long as that behavior is not harmful) - so with the "Astronaut" kid, give him a +1 to hit with that Elven Accuracy reroll the first few times he uses it correctly without cueing. Even in situations where the negative behavior is harmful, providing the child with a better choice rather than a punishment is a more effective and desirable way to manage behavior. There are points at which the behavior, if consistent enough and harmful enough, means that the activity can't support the child, but that should only be the case after repeated attempts to deal with the negative behavior via positive behavior support.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 7:23AM
#9
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whip the children when they roll 1s
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2 years ago ::
Mar 18, 2011 - 7:38AM
#10
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As an educator and having run an after-school gaming group for a number of years, I can understand, to a certain extent, what the author is trying to say in this article. That said, there are superior strategies for increasing good behaviors in children at the gaming table. JohnduBois, above, uses one very clear cut example.
A 2500 word article cannot sum up years of experience as a parent or as a teacher, but I would rather the article had focussed more on redirection, positive reinforcement, and the balance of public praise with private criticism.
Arderkrag, above, is correct when he talks about children needing discipline. Discipline is not the same a punishment, however. Addressing how to help children learn to focus and wait in a turn-based game would have also been a great topic for this article.
Writing about children is always a sensitive subject. I hope we get to see more artiles on the topic of children and gaming, but I also hope they come from a greater variety of world views and people with experienc in the field.
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