If a child has been acting out with a lot of negative behavior and you reward him/her by taking them out to eat because it is convenient to do so, you lessen the effect of the rewards, if that is a goal for the child. If you set up a consequence for the bad behavior and you do not follow through with the consequence, such as if they receive over 30 negative points in a week he/she will lose TV privileges but you allow them to watch TV anyways, the child will learn that you do not intend to keep your word on the consequences and will continue the bad behavior.

That also applies to the rewards. If are feeling desperate and want to encourage your child’s good behavior and tell them the reward for 40 positive points will result in $200 because you do not think your child will actually earn that many points; be prepared to pay the $200. If you do not follow, your child will learn that you do not mean what you say and the bad behavior will return with a vengeance.