Comments on collectingmycash: Should Children be Paid to Excel in School?

I never believed in paying for grades. I wanted m...

2008-03-08T21:07:00.000-05:00

I never believed in paying for grades. I wanted my boys to be "internally" motivated - rather than externally motivated when it came to education. I don't think you can MAKE a kid want to learn. I wanted them to get excited about the learning process itself - not because of the money carrot dangling at the end of the semester for good grades. I do believe in celebrating good academic performance with a special family meal, or maybe a special outing. But to me, that is more about bonding as a family over a family members success. It seemed to me, that when the boys made the effort and got a good grade, that made them FEEL really good - and they wanted to do it again. I don't know much - but I think we tend to throw material rewards at kids much too early in life and just set them up for issues down the road. Parenting is definitely tricky...

Louise, that's a good point.

2008-03-07T18:21:00.000-05:00

Louise, that's a good point.

I work with teenagers and young people in educatio...

2008-03-04T15:23:00.000-05:00

I work with teenagers and young people in education and believe me this is the worst strategy for kids! I makes parents feel good and it teaches kids a lot of really negative messages.
It is a short term solution that measures success by grades only. It sends a lot of wrong messages and sadly teaches kids that everything has a price.

There are so many other measures of success that have absolutely nothing to do with education and grades, sadly we are losing sight of that.

I think they should probably get good grades to le...

2008-03-04T00:34:00.000-05:00

I think they should probably get good grades to learn and accomplish things and maybe it's not the best idea to pay for grades as it could certainly backfire.. They may expect to be paid for everything they do and not learn to be motivated by accomplishment, etc..

On the other hand.. as kids get older, they get sick of school and I think if it works, it works...

I wouldn't suggest starting them out young paying but as they get older and perhaps they get lazy... do whatever you gotta do :)

My two cents... :)

racerx, A little competition can be a good thing a...

2008-03-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

racerx, A little competition can be a good thing among siblings.
Sharon, your daughter sounds like a hard worker. I think hard working become successful adults.
bpt, congrats to you and your bribe recipient. I'll definitely check out your post.
Mrs. Nespy, it sounds like you had a lot of self motivation growing up. I'll bet your children will be very successful in school.

Thanks to all for your comments!

We only have a two-year old, so we have yet to hav...

2008-02-29T14:25:00.000-05:00

We only have a two-year old, so we have yet to have to make this decision. However, I excelled in school as a child and was not paid for it. My parents expected it of me because I was capable. They did not see the need to pay me for something that came naturally, but expressed (strongly) that they expected nothing less. For my siblings who didn't do as well, they were not punished for not doing as well because they were truly doing the best they could.

Was I paid for chores? No. Those were part of life around our house and you were expected to do them because you were able and you were part of the family and we all contributed. No questions asked.

I did get an allowance when I became "of age" (I think around 8 or 9) just to have money to spend. They used this to teach me how to manage my money. It was not a reward for doing anything that I was expected to do, but just what it sounds like...an allowance. It was, however, taken away as a punishment if I was not behaving. This way the money was both a teaching tool and something to hold over my head for behavioral purposes.

I like what my parents did. I think it worked well for us.

I wrote a blogpost about this just a bit ago.My br...

2008-02-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

I wrote a blogpost about this just a bit ago.
My bribe recipient is out of college and doing great. so it certainly can't hurt!
http://moneychangesthings.blogspot.com/2008/02/bribing-your-kids-incentivized-learning.html

Wealthy 1,I confess, we did "pay" our older girls ...

2008-02-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

Wealthy 1,
I confess, we did "pay" our older girls when they were in high school. If they received an "A" in any subject they received $10.00. It did not apply to subjects such as choir, band art or p.e. (I'm not sure why) If they received "straight A's" they earned a $100.00 bonus. My second daughter received straight A's for 4 straight years!! She earned every last penny. I don't start this until they are in high school. My younger two are in elementary school. When they get good grades, we go for ice cream. Is it the "correct" way? I'm not sure. But my husband did this with his niece many many years ago.She went from C's to A's. She is now working as a registered nurse, excelling in her field. She thanks my husband all the time for giving her the incentive to do well in school. So...it worked in that case. My "straight A" daughter just completed her first semester of college with, you guessed it, straight A's. (We didn't pay her, tuition costs enough :))

Ibelieve in paying for grades, especially when mul...

2008-02-28T19:44:00.000-05:00

Ibelieve in paying for grades, especially when multi-childrened (I know it isn't a word :) ) Like us.

Peer pressure is great when one has money for something extra and another doesn't.
I believe it is like bonus time at work...god quarter, here's a little something, bad quarter, sorry charlie!