In the book Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner discuss how children's moral behaviors are linked to a parent's effectiveness when it comes to enforcing rules and rewarding good deeds. This form of tactic, known as incentives, is a way of accomplishing things to get what is needed or wanted. The concept of incentives is that a child should be able to learn from their mistakes and gain an understanding of right and wrong. Incentives not only affect the child's behavioral development, but also their success as an individual. A child's response to negative and positive incentives is the most important predictor of success according to Levitt and Dubner. Negative incentives can encourage a child to do the right thing. Knowing that if the right thing you expect is not accomplished, the desired outcome is lost or not granted. For example, a child who usually does sedentary work in his household chores will lose or have a deduction from his allowance. The effect of what is lost shows that the child must take his homework seriously to thrive. Levitt and Dubner state that “…each of us regularly gives up the opportunity to maim, steal, and defraud. The possibility of going to prison – thus losing your job, your home and your freedom… is certainly a strong incentive” (21). For a parent, it is their responsibility to show the child what is right and what is wrong. If a child is caught stealing, the incentive is mental or physical punishment. Most parents punish their children by taking away television, games and free time instead of staying in the room for a long-term process. Forcing a child to stay in his room takes on the scene of a prison; the child is isolated from his friend... middle of paper... a successful person, be it a businessman, a multimillionaire or an artist musician, can tell you that as a child there was a person in his life which motivated them to achieve their goals towards success. Considering that typical life leads a child to do the work for the benefit of living well and happily. Parents want their children to be successful and wealthy. For this to happen, they must create incentives, regardless of whether they are negative or positive. The use of negative incentives is aimed at stopping a child's bad action or habit. While positive incentive means encouraging a child to continue the process towards their goals. Both negative and positive incentives are needed for a child to become active in doing the right or expected thing to be successful in life. Works Cited Levitt, Steven D., Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.