Hi! Can anyone please evaluate my essay? This is my first essay and have my GRE in 2 days

Prompt - The best way to teach is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones.

This statement raises a controversial issue about whether praising positive actions is a more effective way of teaching than ignoring negative actions. Although the best way to obtain a positive response from any individual is by boosting their positive energy and encouraging their actions, ignoring their negative actions will cause an adverse reaction in their behavior. When a person receives only praises, they tend to develop a superiority complex and will not feel accountable of their negative actions. Thus, I generally disagree with the opinion that the best way to teach is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones. I would rather argue that people should be rewarded when they perform well, meanwhile, they should not be ignored for mediocre performance.

Utilizing positive reinforcements is great way boost an individual’s self-confidence and motivate them to perform better. For instance, a teacher in a classroom who openly praises and acknowledges a student for raising his hand and who waits for his turn to speak, is indirectly shaping a positive behavior amongst all the students in the classroom. However, when the same teacher ignores another student who interrupts others, it is acceptable. This instills a feeling in the student that he is not being heard and will eventually start raising his hand and seeking permission to speak. However, this ignoring tactic will only work in situations where the actions are serious.

On the hand other, one must be extremely careful when dealing with the second half the statement: ignoring all negative actions. Consider the above example of a student talking out of his turn, it would be completely acceptable to ignore such a behavior. This student might not be exhibiting and serious problem unless he makes offensive comments or bullies a fellow student. Ignoring the situation when reaches this level creates room for a bigger problem where the student thinks there is nothing wrong in bullying a fellow student. By addressing such a situation openly and immediately, we can ensure that the problem is stopped before it blooms and avoid other students from repeating the same mistake. Thus, ignoring negative actions is not the best way to teach as it only advocates problems in the future.

That being said, there are situations where ignoring a negative action does more good than harm. However, one should be mindful about the actions they ignore. The statement in questions surely has great intentions but leaves room for negative possibilities. Thus, in order to effectively dissipate knowledge, it is important to clear balance between praising negative actions and ignoring negligible negative actions.