Positive Punishment... That's What You Missed on Glee

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    Positive punishment is a concept that comes from the school of behaviorism, specifically operant conditioning. The idea of operant conditioning is that people's behaviors will be changed due to the consequences (or lack thereof) of their actions. Punishment following an action is something that will affect someone from wanting to perform that action again; according to the American Psychological Association, positive punishment is, "punishment that results because some stimulus or circumstance is presented as a consequence of a response." It's called positive punishment not because someone is punished with something desirable, but rather because an aversive stimulus will be added with the goal to decrease unwanted behavior. Almost all of the characters in the hit television show Glee are no stranger to positive punishment; one of the main plot lines that run through the entire six-season series revolves around some characters "punishing" others in order to stop a behavior - with a cold slushie drink. 

    Glee is a show about a group of teenagers who, despite their differences, come together for their love of singing. They all join the glee club at school, in which they practice daily to perform at competitions; however, the kids in the glee club were seen as the losers of their school. Throughout the series, the glee club clashes with other cliques and groups, such as the popular kids, the football team, and the cheerleaders, and they have many enemies. One way those enemies decide to target the glee club with a punishment in order to get them to quit or disband the glee club is through slushies. The enemies would take cold cups of slushies and chuck them in the faces of the glee club members; the idea was to punish the glee club kids with something cold and humiliating in order to get them to not want to be in the club any longer. If someone joined the glee club, no matter how cool or popular they were beforehand, they would be subject to a slushie in the face. 

    In the show, one of the main characters, Finn, is the most popular guy in school. He is dating the head cheerleader, Quinn, and is quarterback of the football team. Finn and Quinn are also in the glee club; their popularity does not shield them from the consequences of being in the club. In one episode, Finn and the other football players in the club are forced to choose between the football team and the glee club. Finn is trying to find a way to do both, when him and Quinn are surrounded by football players in the hallway, all of them holding slushie cups. The football players corner the pair into a corner, where they throw the slushies at them. Finn, covered in slushies, angrily exclaims, "You can't do this!" in which one of the football players replies, "You think that's bad? Just imagine what's gonna happen if you don't show up to practice on Thursday and quit that little glee club for good." 

    The slushie throwing in Glee is a perfect example of positive punishment. The kids in the club are doing something that is unwanted and disliked by others in their high school (being a part of the glee club), and so they are faced with a punishment (a cold drink getting thrown in their faces) in hopes to stop their behaviors. Of course, the glee kids never let the slushie-throwing get the best of them, but it is a running gag throughout the entire show.

...And that's what you missed on Glee!



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