Four things that connected to me in this reading are:
Reducing Achievement: I relate to this particular subtopic because growing up, I felt as if I had to live up to the expectations placed on me from my parents, teachers, and coaches. Although I was praised for many of the things I accomplished, I felt stretched out thin, and my desire to try new things quickly diminished in fear that I would not live up to the expectations placed on me in the past.
Losing Interest: This idea also effected my interest in things I did. One of these things being swimming. It has gotten to the point where getting in a pool makes my skin crawl.
Manipulating Children: This text speaks to me because I often see many parents using praise as a way to push their kids to do things in their image. Often times kids will lose independence and shape their lives to the will of others.
The final thing I connected to was Stealing a child's pleasure: I think this idea of Good job and Bad job has robbed me of pleasure. Especially in the music faculty, we are constantly seeking praise and appreciation from our studio teachers and band director. As time goes on, my personal pleasure in playing has decreased, and has only recently risen due to finding music that makes me happy and playing for my own pleasure.
I actually do not disagree with a lot of what Kohn is saying, but I believe they take it to the extreme. I think there is a lot of knowledge that can be taken and applied to our society, but I also believe a little bit of praise can go a long way. It is our job as parents and educators to point them in the right way, because of how easily their minds can be molded. Although praise can have a negative effect, it can have positive effects as well. I think is important to view things from both perspectives rather then pointing out only the negative.