Paying children for getting grades...Huh???? What???? It isn't the getting $1 for each A they bring home on their report card... Thought I'd share this article with you all... http://regularfolksunited.com/index.php?tab=article_view&article_id=366
Desperation speaks out again. They just don't know what else to do. So, they indulge these kids and continue to allow them to think that we all sit on the edge of our seats waiting to serve them. They are not helping anything just allowing these kids to continue down the same sad path.
I'm thinking how much "extra" money the school district must have to do this! To bad they can't invest it back into the classroom! How about giving each teacher that amount to spend on materials for their classroom. Are you aware of how much of their own money a teacher spends for materials?
What a shame the school board is spending money to bribe children instead of using that money to purchase school books with accurate information, relevant information, and interesting information, or spend the money on enrichment programs to help children to see the benefits of the work they are being asked to do. well glad we don't live there and that my children are Homeschooled.
I thought my property taxes were high, these are going to keep escalating to pay for bribery! What's going to happen when they finally crash the system and most of the kids flunk out? I think the school districts forgot to put "increase a child's desire to learn" in their mission statement. They should be more like me - or maybe they should just send me all their "extra" money.
I could see doing this if they only paid for A's or B's AND made allowances for the slower kids. People who hold jobs get paid for working, right? Getting straight A's, or for some, even B's, is work. I don't see anything wrong with paying the kids if they'd make a more realistic program.
Becky, I see your point and agree to some degree, but I don't think the school should pay the child for the A's I think there parents should. All the money needs to go into the school and materials to help the children. Like Jackie said teachers put in alot of personal money to help the students get where they are now. So, I love the idea but it needs to come from the parents not the school.
But how are the parents? I don't remember by the article, but if the parents either can't, or don't give a care about education, then the school should step up.
The article said that part of the money (for one of the districts, anyway) came from a grant. If all the money for the program came from a grant (specifically for that program) & the program was more realistic (I mean, come on, it said they got paid for doing their homework & not killing each other) it wouldn't be such a bad idea. I do agree with Kris, it should be the parents paying their kids, ideally. However, as Becky said, the parents may not be able to (or don't want to). My main issue with it, is that they're using regular school funding, at least for part of it. Most schools are underfunded as it is, and (as has already been mentioned) many teachers spend quite a bit of their own money to buy materials for the classroom. The schools should be using all of their regular funding on educational materials, tutoring & after-school programs, building maintenance, and security. If they want to do programs like this one, they should be forced to search out eztra funding for it, not use the general funds.
I wonder if Alfie Kohn has heard about this program? One of the things that I worry the most about public education is the way it takes the love out of learning; I certainly saw it in my life, despite the fact that I was an honor roll/top of the class student. That is one of my biggest aims in HSing my kids. Kohn cites studies that note that the more rewards and incentives are provided, the less people care about what is done; in this case, they would care more about the money and the test scores, and less about the actual material (is that even possible? to care less than most students do?). So for me, with "love of learning" in my top 5 and probably top 3, it is just another sign of the further corrosion of public education. But that's just my 2c. SG
My kid gets good grades because he is SUPPOSE to work hard in school, and it's not a choice in our house. It's sad though, that there are many people who procreate that never should (more than likely the parents of many of these children), and those children are dangling by the last thread of chance.
I agree with JenPooh. I got good grades in school because I was supposed to. I once had a C (an unfair C at that-a crazy story!) and was terrified to show my parents my report card. I mean really scared! (not any physical form of harm, but I thought I'd be grounded for life). Parents should provide the necessary support system for children to do their best. Money does not need to be involved at all!
They can earn $4000??? Sheesh, I could use that money! When I was young my mom was a nurse. Her feet would be so tired at the end of her 8-12 hour shifts, and I would rub them for her. I actually immensely disliked the task, but I felt that she had worked hard to help provide for me, that's the least I could do, and she appreciated it sooo much! I NEVER thought of asking her to pay me for doing that for her! I raise my kids to be good, GOdly people, but with culture these days or something, they have started asking me to pay them for stuff--such as rubbing my neck and shoulders, that they used to do just because. So, I wouldn't say all the parents are bad! I honestly don't think I'm a bad parent, and my kids do that---some! They have regular chores that they do just because they're a part of the family, and they do those with no problems. It's the extras, that don't fall into the "regular chores" category that they do that with. We have paid them for washing the car or things like that oof-and-on when they were earning money for something.... Anyway, for the grades, I can see positive rewards as motivational. We'll take our kids out to eat when they do extra well, or let them have extra computer time, or choose the plans for family night. And we tell them we're proud of their hard work. But paying them $1600-$4000 seems too much to me. That's more than I make for a lot harder work than those kids are doing! It just makes them expect to be paid for everything they do...........
While I don't think it's necessary to pay kids for good grades, I don't think it's automatically a bad idea, either. Yes, the child should strive for excellence regardless of a possible reward. However, I believe that as children, their job is to go to school (or stay home for school) and do work around the house. Therefore, I don't see anything inherently wrong with providing them with some kind of compensation. My parents promised me money for good grades when I was in school. I got good grades, but not because of the money (they almost never had the money to pay me anyway). My aunt & uncle bought my sister a suede jacket & me a necklace & pair of earrings (both 14k gold), for getting good grades. These weren't bribes. They were rewards for our hard work. I reward my dd for doing her school to the best of her abilities & without a fight. I reward her with privileges & more free time, not money. However, it's still a reward for doing good work with a good attitude. BTW, I agree with Deena that they're paying the kids way too much.
Tanner just started getting an allowance. We pay him a whopping $2 a week to pick up Lucy's dog doodie and feed her twice a day. We decided to start giving him an allowance because he has had many chores over the last few years, has never complained about them, and we felt it was time for him to start learning the value of a dollar. For example...he has a nastyy habit of picking at the remote control to the tv. He picks the plastic off into pieces. We told him if he kept doing it or broke it because of doing that (being told a million times not to, mind you), that he'd have to use his allowance to pay for a new one. We will also start having him take a quarter of it to church to put in the offering plate during service. I really do think that giving children money for certain things is NOT BAD, but it really all depends what boundaries you put on it, what the purposes are, and what you are going to teach the children with it in the process. With the privledge needs to come boundaries and lessons, and it also needs to be realistic and age appropriate.
My kids both get an allowance. They both have chores & since their chores are not just picking up after themselves, I pay them. If they don't do their chores, they don't get paid. They also can't have people over if they don't do their chores. They get fairly large allowances, but half of it goes into savings. The other half is their's to do with as they choose. We're teaching them about saving up for things they really want, budgeting their money, and they donate some of it. My dd is also expected to pay us back for things that she has destroyed. In fact, she is currently working at my mom's on weekends to earn the money to pay me back for a rather large library fine on her card that dh & I have been paying off (almost $300) and an a/c that she ruined (another $100). She's learning that there are consequences for her actions. If she destroys something, she has to replace it. In order to replace it, she has to earn money. To earn money, she has to work. My parents promised me money for grades as a kid. This was the deal: A$10, B$5, C $0, D I paid them $5, F I paid them $10. As I said, they almost never had the money to pay me for my grades, and I didn't get Fs until high school (which weren't entirely my fault anyway), so it didn't really make a difference. I didn't work hard to earn the money because I knew I probably wasn't going to get it anyway. I worked hard because I wanted to learn (until jr. high) and because I wanted to have a better life than my parents did. If the school had paid me the way these programs do, I'd have been able to pay my way to college & buy a car before I was out of high school.
In what time frame could they earn this money? A year? At graduation? They're not going to hand a school kid thousands of dollars.
Yeah, the article didn't make that clear. I thought it was per year, but that's just a guess.... My kids get allowances just for being part of the family. The chores and allowance are not related. The chores are done because they're a part of the family. Their allowances are small compared to what some kids get--only $1 per year of age per month. Out of that they tithe 1/10, choose an amount they wish for offering, and save half. So, even out of that small amount they get even less. But they all have decent savings! They know that their job is to be sons and daughter and do their schoolwork and chores. If they don't do those things well there will be consequences, just not monetary.
This is what I mean. If we break something or misuse it what happens? We have to replace it or buy a new one right? Things don't grow on trees, and neither does money. I believe that with kids this should be taught at an early age. With kids accidents happen, and I would never make the kids pay for something they did not intentionally break or misuse. Kids will be kids and accidents will occur. But, when things get treated with disrespect (and I consider it desrespect in my book), that is when a lesson should be taught. They need to right their wrongs, and a time out isn't going to cut it. In the real world they will find out that even though money isn't the most important thing, it still needs to be valued. If YOU mistreat something, YOU have to pay for it. I stress a lot on how important it is to respect and appreciate the things we have. We should, God gave them to us. We don't use the allowance as a threat in order to be good (there are different consequences for being naughty), but we treat it like it would happen in the real world...you don't work, you don't get paid...you disrespect something and it needs replacing/to be paid for, you pay for it. Plain and simple. Along with what Deena said, I like the saving a portion of it. This is something we haven't done yet. The allowance thing is very new to us...only been about 5 weeks into it. Right now we put other money in the bank for him...from birthday's, Christmas, etc. I think we may start putting a portion in his piggy bank. This is a good idea, because I want him (Aiden also when he's older) to also learn about savings.
