Paying kids for good grades?

[MAJOR METAL]

What are your thoughts on paying kids for good grades? I have heard of this practice a few times, only up through the secondary level (high school). I'm really not sure what I think about this, the pros and cons seem to be even on each side as I think it through.

[colcifer]

It depends on the kid.

[DwaynieAD]

A good number of kids I went to school with got payed for good grades. seemed to work for them. If they actually learned and retained information then I'd say it's a win.

[Strat-Mangler]

I don't believe in it. It's the same as giving food to the dog after he performs a trick. He ends up not doing the trick because he wants to please you but rather to get the food.

It's a nuance that is absolutely HUGE to me.

The kid, in my opinion, would therefore end up working only to get a reward and potentially not have any pride in his/her work. Also, you seriously run the risk of needing to provide a reward of some kind for anything that is considered work by the kid whether it's doing homework, doing chores, going to a family outing when they don't feel like it, etc.

My 2 cents ; I'd *never* do that with my kid.

Parents, nowadays, tend to try to be a friend to their kid as opposed to what they should be... which is a parent. A parent has to lay down the law HARD, sometimes. But it's as if most parents of 2013 are too afraid of doing that, because of whether how it'd be perceived by other parents or being afraid that their kid won't like/love them anymore.

[jmattbassplaya]

When you word it like that it sounds bad. In my opinion, rewarding kids for hard work sounds much better.

As for the actual practice, I'm fine with it. Most kids in grade school can't conceptualize or understand the importance of making good grades, studying hard, and working hard. Many also can't understand just how greatly their grades can affect their options later in life. I'm sure if all of us think back on our high school years most of us could agree that we weren't too concerned with life much past what was going on the coming weekend. At least I wasn't. Rewarding kids for doing what they should be doing can help with that. I mean shoot, isn't that what getting a paycheck from working a job is all about now? It's a reward for doing what you should be doing.

[macaroni tony]

I'm torn on the issue

[Bloodhammer]

I got paid for bad grades with punishment. I took no pride in my school work whatsoever and was only doing well to stay out of trouble.

[kesslari]

There's an interesting book about this exact topic, called "Punished by Rewards"
http://www.amazon.com/Punished-Rewar.../dp/0618001816

Essentially "pay for good grades" is no better an idea than "pay to play".

A quicker look at some of the issues is here, and it's worth a view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

[A-Step-Towards]

Well I was a kid during the late 90's Pokemon craze. My dad would buy buy packs of pokemon cards and give me cards when I did good in school. For example if I did well on a test we would give me a few cards, if I got a good report card maybe a few packs, etc.

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by A-Step-Towards

Well I was a kid during the late 90's Pokemon craze. My dad would buy buy packs of pokemon cards and give me cards when I did good in school. For example if I did well on a test we would give me a few cards, if I got a good report card maybe a few packs, etc.

Ha, same here.

I will add to my post that you shouldn't have to reward your kid for EVERYTHING they do. They shouldn't expect a trip to Disney World just for taking the trash out, but for things like school, where they might have to put in some real time and effort to succeed (just like you would at any job), it's not a horrible idea to reward them for their hard work.

[Phalex]

My parents tried everything back when I was in school. Beatings didn't work, grounding me didn't work, and offering to pay me for good grades didn't work either.

The very real and believable threat of being sent away to a military academy, on the other hand.......

It didn't work that well, but it did work.

I guess some kids are just hammer heads, but if a kid is motivated by the promise of payment, well, that's pretty much how a job works and isn't a bad life lesson IMO.

[spade2you]

[Simo98]

Always seemed like a weird idea to me. Then again, some kids probably need it I guess?


I always did well in school because I could. I never excelled because I didn't have any motivation to do so, but I was an A-grade student regardless because academic learning came easy to me. If somebody was paying me to get good grades I'd have likely put more effort in, yes, but I'd be doing so simply because I was going to get paid extra, which isn't a realistic expectation to set kids up for.

The day somebody stopped paying, I'd stop working so hard, and it would likely have had a negative effect on my grades in the long run.


To each their own I guess. But if a kid doesn't want to do well in school and you can't teach them the benefits of doing so, send them off to get a real job. They'll either love it (in which case school isn't for them) or they'll be back within a week.

[Southpaw5]

Originally Posted by Phalex

My parents tried everything back when I was in school. Beatings didn't work, grounding me didn't work, and offering to pay me for good grades didn't work either.

The very real and believable threat of being sent away to a military academy, on the other hand.......

It didn't work that well, but it did work.

I guess some kids are just hammer heads, but if a kid is motivated by the promise of payment, well, that's pretty much how a job works and isn't a bad life lesson IMO.

This: because its true

Also, although the comments about this leading to "not having pride in your work" is idealistically nice, its not really based in reality. 9 times out of 10 your employer doesn't care. Its about paying you as little as possible and lining his pockets as much as possible.

[hartke20g]

my grandparents used to give my cousins and i some money for good grades, but i never really cared for that (mainly because they did better than me and got paid more ).
the main reason i tried to do well in school is because everyone always told me i was such a smart boy, and i guess i felt that if i didn't do well that i'd be letting them down. it worked decently well. laziness is tough to cure

[pflash4001]

A kid should value his or her education. That comes from parents installing that value in their child. A kid should be rewarded for doing something exceptional, not just doing what is expected of them. Doing what's expected shouldn't require more than an acknowledgement of your efforts in the form of a pat on your shoulder and a "great job! I love you!"

[zachoff]

I don't pay my kids for good grades... I do, however, give them money when they need it and permission to do things if they maintain their grades and my trust. As soon as either of those start to slip, so do the things they get to do.

[rob2966]

I was never paid for grades but I had friends who were (and I was a bit envious since I could have really raked it in whereas they never really did).

I have no intention of paying my daughter for grades (she is only 17 months now) but do plan to instill the value of education on her like my parents did.

However, I can see going out for a special dinner (or something like that) if she brings home an excellent report card.

Of course, by the time she is in school they will probably have phased out report cards because it makes the dumb kids (usually just slackers) feel bad.

Later
Rob

[jasper383]

This is a piece from NPR Marketplace about paying kids for grades. Kids in general aren't very good at understanding that getting good grades will pay off 25 years on down the road. Boys especially are bad at this.

My parents were very against paying us for achievement, but looking back, my sister and I were unusual kids and we did very well in school without having to try very hard.

Now I'm a parent of three and if I have to use money as an incentive when my kids are older, I will.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/li...do-well-school

[fdeck]

I see no problem with it. If kids didn't need incentives to do their schoolwork, then we wouldn't need grades.