Reinforcing small changes in your child's behavior   By Ray
Levy, Ph.D.       How children and adolescents learn     One
cause of misbehavior  One such patient, Ryan, an oppositional
16-year-old, was continually late on weekends, violating his
curfew. His mother would ground him but first engage in a
lengthy lecture that usually ended up in a screaming match
between the two. Later, to cut down on her worry, she purchased
a cell phone for him and instructed him to call her if he was
going to be late, hoping the cell phone remedied the situation.
The following weekend Ryan took the phone as instructed but
didn't turn it on. Again, on returning home late, he was
grounded along with a lecture on how insensitive and selfish he
was. Several weekends later, he was permitted to go out again.
Ryan took his cell phone, turned it on, and when his mother
called, had his girlfriend answer it. Ready to pull her hair
out, his mother later consulted me on why he does this and why
he just can't follow the rules. "Doesn't he s