Paragraph 5 One problem with negative consequences is that parents can lose sight of when to stop giving them. If one consequence doesn’t work, parents often try another that is harsher. They begin piling negative consequences on top of negative consequences. This can lead to an upward spiral where the parent ends up grounding the child for the next five years, or something outlandish like that. This often happens when parents are frustrated and upset. Children know which “buttons” to push, and parents can quickly lose their patience. That’s when “the snowball effect” usually takes place. For example, Amy’s dad asked her to clean her room. She didn’t do the chore so her dad took away her telephone privileges for the weekend. Her room was messy the next day. For this, she lost a week of TV privileges. The room didn’t get any cleaner and her father got madder and more frustrated. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the paragraph?