Paying kids for good grades?

spyrosmom

spyrosmom

Cathlete
It was on the news last night that 20 of the Chicago Public Schools are going to start paying kids for good grades in the core curriculum classes. I believe it was $75 for an A, $50 for a B and $20 for a C. They said its funded by private donations, not taxpayer money. I'm not sure I agree with this. I agree the kids need to be motivated, and a lot of the times the parents/community aren't there helping push them along. But I don't know that paying the kids is the way either. Whatever happened to working for self satisfaction? To be more than the parents that aren't helping you? To rise above? I honestly don't ever recall school being that hard, and I cannot believe they find a C grade cash-worthy. When I grew up, an A was what was expected, a B was ok as long as it was fixed by the the next report card, and if you got a C - well, might as well not even come home!! Why do we feel the need to reward kids for every little thing? I can't stand the everyone's a winner mentality. Everyone is NOT a winner!!!! Its life, deal with it! Even at DS school -not Chicago public- they give out "star bucks" for doing well, listening, etc , and every so often they get to turn them in for little prizes. WTF???? You're supposed to do well and listen? Whats next - an award for getting out of bed in the morning???? Its not got nothing to do with real life. You know what I get for going to work and doing my job everyday - I get to keep my job!!! No special hugs just for showing up in the morning, its what is expected of me as an adult. School is supposed to prepare kids for the world, and life isn't handed to you on a silver platter. I don't have a problem with kids being praised for doing well and that being acknowledged, but it doesn't always have to be with a present/gift/money. If they go above and beyond, then it is the time for such things. Any thoughts anyone?

Nan

ETA: It is possible I just don't get it because I've never been in that situation.
 
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Nan~
Funny you brought this up. Just this morning on Fox news, they interviewed a mother here in MN who pays her kids for good grades. I personally do not agree with this and have never paid my kids to get good grades. It is expected that they work hard and do their best. Both my kids have struggled in school and have to work much harder than some kids to earn A's & B's. My DD will stay after school for extra help and always does extra credit to pull up her grades. Luckily, both my kids are motivated by their own desire to succeed.

A pay for performance program in school concerns me when there are kids who can get good grades with little effort while other kids who work twice as hard and may not be good test takers cannot.

JJ
 
Nan ~

My husband & I have long debated this argument. He feels the need to give the boys cash when they get a good report catd. To me they should do it because they want to (& should) not because of money. I don't mind doing something special but not right out cash.
 
We are debating that for our daughter. Not paying, but trying something that will inspire her to try more. She is in 3rd grade and doesn't care squat for school. She stays on the A-B honor roll, but as the she gets older, those grade levels get harder to maintain b/c the content gets more complicated. I was always the perfectionist child - had to get all A's. I was upset if I didn't get a 100! Of course, I didn't always get that, but I sure tried :) DH does not try so much... I completed a PhD, and still want to go to more school. Mom had to practically tie me down when I was sick b/c I wanted to go to school. For grades, if we got all A's, they took us (brother and me) out to eat. That was a special treat for us as we were not a family that did that often (usually every 6 weeks - ha!). I am trying to think of something that DH would enjoy, something that would make her feel special and accomplished than just money.
 
I raised this issue with my parents as a kid, since my friend's parents did it for her, and it DID NOT go well at all :) I, too, basically got the grades that I got becuase if I didn't, my parents would have killed me. AND...anything less than the B was punishment range for us. Giving a "C" an award is a little much if you ask me.

I believe that whatever motion works ought to be used. That's probably varies for every kid. For some, it is a trip at the end of the year. For others, it is money. I ilike positive reinforcement! It seems strange though that this is publicly funded. It's great that they are finding the funds but as another poster stated, how about giving it to teachers or programs or books or something to better the school and reward those helping the kids get the grades!?
 
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I wish they did that when I was young...I'd be rich by now...lol. I always had to get a 100 on any test and many times succeeded.

I don't agree with the school giving this to children. I think its up to parents to praise their children how they see fit whether it be dinners, gifts or cash. I believe in positive reinforcement but it doesn't have to be cash unless that's the only thing that works. Hey, if a kid is willing to strive for A's to get money I think it does prepare them for the real world in some sense. That's how we get paid as adults.
 
I don't agree with this at all. We never paid our children for their grades. Their grade was their reward. The grade is what they should feel good about and work towards, not getting money. Both my girls did very well in school including college (my younger one struggled more but still did well). Friends of mine who paid their children for their grades didn't seem to do well at all. I wonder if a study was ever done-I would love to see the results.

Joanne
 
Yesterdays USAToday

had an article on the front page of the money section regarding this whole issue. They interviewed CEO's of companies for their opinion.

We did it the last semester of last year for the first time. Our son (age 12 at the time) was getting good grades in the hard subjects (math, science, english, religion) but was jerkin around on the easy grades (band, gym, memory). He brought his GPA up from a 3.35 to a 3.65. He missed another $20 by a sliver. I am still on the fence.

I don't think school districts should be doing it.
 
baylian said:
had an article on the front page of the money section regarding this whole issue. They interviewed CEO's of companies for their opinion.

We did it the last semester of last year for the first time. Our son (age 12 at the time) was getting good grades in the hard subjects (math, science, english, religion) but was jerkin around on the easy grades (band, gym, memory). He brought his GPA up from a 3.35 to a 3.65. He missed another $20 by a sliver. I am still on the fence.

I don't think school districts should be doing it.
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My parents used to give us a dollar for a "b" and three dollars for an "A." We were all good students regardless though so I think it was more of a reward than motivator. That said, I cannot BELIEVE a school district thinks this is a good idea. Talk about a hail mary...seems like the schools realize they are failing on every level and this is a pathetic attempt to bribe the kids into doing well. Sad.

Sparrow
 
When I was in school, my dad tried something similar with me. My sophomore year, if I earned all A's, I'd get $100 (big money back in 1986) for each semester. I didn't get anything if I got one B (not even a B+). Well, I ended up having an appendectomy at the end of semester 1, and recovery lasted well into semester 2. So, I didn't do well on my semester 1 finals, and then played catch-up all of semester 2 (because you all know how schools load up the homework so that a kid can't have a frickin' life). Anyhoo, I missed all A's both semesters by a couple of points into the B+ range.

My dad gave me nothing. Na-da. Zip. Not even $10 bucks as a pat on the back for trying so hard.

I was devastated. My motivation was completely killed. I felt like a failure and was totally burned out from sacrificing and burning the candle at both ends (and in the middle) for nine months straight in an effort to get all A's.

I lost my desire to study, and got mostly B's and C's my junior year, and actually got a D in one class my senior year.

So, if you're going to monetarily reward for grades, which really is (and was for me) a good source of motivation, make the goals realistic yet challenging, and still reward for partial attainment. A partial payout would have gone miles to keep me motivated to try harder my junior and senior years. Getting nothing for all my effort and sacrifice deflated me.

Still, the best bet is to get your kids to feel a sense of personal fulfillment from their hard work.
 
My son is 3 1/2, so I do not have this particular parenting issue facing me yet, but I have thought about it before. I've read a few articles that talk about monetary rewards as being a great motivator for kids to make good grades.

But on another note, these monetary rewards are funded by "private donations" ????? Who in the word would donate their money for this? NOT ME!
 
I think it should be up to the parents to decide if and how they want to reward their children.

As someone else posted, some children get good grades easily and some, even with diligence and hard work, may be unable to. A parent would know his/her child best in this regard (well, ideally, anyway).

In our case, we home school. I have 2 children of school age that score above the 95th percentile in their yearly standardized tests consistantly. They just "get it". Another daughter really struggles, although she works very hard. She is very "hands on" and her strengths as a person do not show up in grades or standardized tests.

Although we don't give money for good grades or for school performance in general, if we notice that a particular child is working hard (in any area of life) and has a good attitude, we notice that child's effort, give praise where praise is due and find ways to "bless" that child. The Lord honors diligence and we as parents want to model that for our kids.

We also try to instill the concept of "reaping what you sow". In other words, if you work hard now, it may not yield immediate results, but down the road, you will be ahead of the game and more prepared for life and its challenges. I am delighted to see this idea really crystallizing in ds14.

Okay, done rambling now:p

Maggie:)
 
MSJ said:
I think it should be up to the parents to decide if and how they want to reward their children.

As someone else posted, some children get good grades easily and some, even with diligence and hard work, may be unable to. A parent would know his/her child best in this regard (well, ideally, anyway).
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ITA!!!
Some children work their butts off for a C and that should be rewarded.
My son got A's with very little effort. He was moved into an advanced program, and still got A's with little effort. You are born with those capabilities.
I think parents should be there motivating their child every single day. Not just on report card day.


Use the money to pay the teachers, let the parents decide how they want to reward their children.
 
I don't like the idea at all.

It's one thing for parents to reward their children for working and doing their best in school (and they should decide what that reward will be and for what it will be given) and another to put a price tag on certain grades.

I think only a capitalistic society like ours would put a dollar value on a grade. There's something creepy about that to me.

Whatever happened to the grades themselves, and a "good job!" being reward enough?
 
We pay for work done around the house but in our house good grades and a full effort are just expected. luckily I have not had to deal with a money per grade debate because my son and another child in his grade have always had this competition whether it is in school or on the baseball field to see who can either get the best grades/turn work in first or who can preform the best on the field. My son is a over-achiever. Yet my dd is only 5 and I have yet to she how she falls?
 
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