Sleepyjack

This just dawned on me now. But what do you think about the motivation for a child to learn and get good grades, by some sort of payment by the parents?

I remember, a few friends in high school got, soemtimes, a playstation game or a fixed sum of money for particular grades. Like $20 for every A oir something. I myself, think it's a little sick.
I don't mean to sound square but i was always motivated to learn based the drive to get attain more knowledge etc

That said, i wasn't really motivated in English or Geography, because the subjects didn't really interest me much. So i always had high schores in calculus, chemistry, physics and applicable maths, but pretty bad in geography and english.

I don't have much justification for it, other than a general sorta indifference for money and material/superficial possesions, but i dislike the idea of learning this way. School should not be a job and i'd like to think kids could get motivated otherwise.

Your thoughts or experiences

lurkette

I have mixed feelings about this. I agree with you that achievement should be a goal in itself, but perhaps that's just the protestant work ethic rearing its deep-seated head. I guess if a child is not otherwise motivated, some reward might be appropriate. On the other hand, what kind of lesson is that teaching the child? That you should only do your best if there's something in it for you? Really, it's in the kid's own best interest to succeed, and it may be a lesson worth teaching that success doesn't always involve filthy lucre.

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SecretMethod70

I think any sort of incentive to learn is a good one so long as it's appropriate. In other words, it's a lot more appropriate to have incentives for someone when they're still too immature to understand the value of learning itself - to build the habit - and as they grow to be more mature the incentives ought to gradually lessen as the understanding of learning's simple value grows.

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Nisses

wrong


It's just wrong. You give a kid the idea he's learning because he'll receive money. How are you gonna lessen the reward afterwards? And when? I know alot of people at the age of 17 who still don't get it. Are you gonna pay them till they're 21?

As a parent, it's your responsibility you teach your kid that learning is needed. You do have authority over him, he's your kid. If what it takes is psychological means or a beating, then so be it. (though this doesn't justify severely beating your kid!)

This also works in the opposite case though. Be sure to congratulate him on a job well done, he shouldn't get the idea that he isn't appreciated either.

So unless incentive also encompasses these things, I do not agree.

Which is not to say it's never appropriate. Getting him something afterwards as a present because he did well is up to the parent. But it's not something that should be put up as a goal in advance.

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Nefir

The only incentive a kid should have for getting good grades is to feel good about him/herself and feel ready for adult life. The motivation should come from within, to create a healthy, independent, and responsible individual. They can be rewarded, as long as the reward is not expected as the norm.

By dangling money in front of them, like a carrot before an ass, as a means of motivating them to learn, that is really what you're teaching them to be - irresponsible asses for whom money is everything and personal ethics and self-respect is nothing. Whether they actuall become this I can't
say - but the influence is far from positive, IMHO.

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zztzed

All I know is incentives never worked for me; my dad once offered me like, $50 for every A I got (so in high school, if I'd actually done it, I would've been pretty much rolling in the dough), and I still slacked like hell. I really, really, really hated school, though.

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Moskie

I think it makes sense to give your kid material rewards for doing well in school.

The way I see it, when you're a kid, school is your occupation. When you're done with school, you get a job that is (hopefully) both personally rewarding as well as well-paying. So, why not have school be similar?

And just because a kid gets a reward for doing well in school (or an adult gets a raise for doing their job well), it doesn't mean they don't value the education/work for itself... it's just more incentive to "stay within the lines" and apply themselves to getting good marks.

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Cynthetiq

IMHO depends on the individual. My parents couldn't motivate me when I was younger and still cannot motivate me. Only I can do that for myself. Nothing they tried ever worked.

My sister on the other hand, she went for those rewards that were praise oriented, not material.

Again, depends on the individual, because the praise didn't mean much to me either.

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SecretMethod70

The important thing to understand here is incentive != monitary. An incentive is anything that will be of value to that particular individual. That means it could be getting the kid a playstation game for getting straight A's, or taking her out to dinner, or a slew of other things. Ultimately, there are a multitude of options available.

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Phaenx

I got money for A's and B's from about grade 4 to grade 7. Worked like a bastard to get said grades, and it paid off in more ways then one. I learned how to work hard to achieve my goals at an early age, plus then there was the money, which was used to teach another lesson; how not to blow your money on stupid shit. Two good lessons my dad-o taught me through this method.

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thingstodo

Somehow you have to create the self-motivation thing. If a financial incentives gets the wheels greased, go for it. But the self part has to take over sometime.

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Boo

Everyone has a different motivator. If $20 makes my kid smarter in math, its a cheap price to pay.

Of course the other one doesn't care enough to put the effort into it. Money is not a motivator for him. Freedom is.

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Journeyman

I suppose it can be siphoned down to whether or not your kid can understand the notion of delayed gratification, ie that schooling now equals a more comfortable life down the road. If the kid can appreciate that, awsome, he'll do fine. If he can't, reward him with *something*, anything. Money? Maybe. Trips to ball games or movies or game arenas, something to have him associate good grades with personal benefit.

As for being upset that he's not learning just for the sake of learning, well shit, in most public schools he's not learning a lot, period, and there's no point in "learning for learning's sake" when they have no control over their curriculum (not that they should, at such a young age, but they don't have any influence about it at all).

If you want your kids education done right (or, I personally imagine how I'd like to try when I have my own), homeschool him. Worried about his social skills? Enroll him into public school for *just* two classes, one before and one after lunchtime.

Personally I'd go with whatever two foreign languages the school teaches, because I couldn't homeschool him in that myself.

dragon2fire

hello

this is a capiliatist soceity

of corse its ok to pay a kid for good grades


they might aswell learn quickly that is all about cash

spived2

When I was a kid (junior high, high school) my parents would offer me $100 if I got all A's in all my classes each semester. This being a pretty tough goal to achieve for myself, I figured the reward matched the challenge and I tried hard to achieve this goal. Eventually I did and It wasn't even about the money (which was a nice bonus), but about reaching my parents standard that I was trying to do.

Of course it's different for all kids, but I think parents should do whatever is necessary for them to help their kids, even if a reward for good grades is in order. Just keep the bar high, that way they have to work harder in order to reach it.

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omega2K4

Same here.

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skier

Monetary Incentives never worked for me. I just couldn't "keep my eyes on the prize" so to speak. It was one thing for my dad to tell me i would get 20$ for honors in a class and another completely sitting in math staring at the chalkboard waiting to die.

I believe that if you are going to provide an incentive (monetary or otherwise) you need to start with immediate gratification- say if you study for a full hour one night you'll get a buck or something, then move to longer term goals. I personally could not stay on target, and as i lost sight of my goal, my grades slipped.

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sadatx

Wanting to learn to gain knowledge and better myself really came as I matured. When I was a kid, I really didn't care that much. So I'm not sure I would've tried at all if grades weren't an incentive, howere, I don't think it's necessarily a good thing to give grades to kids in school.

The scholl system needs reform, I just wonder how it will ever come about.

Finchie

Parents should offer an incentive to do well, whether it be praise, money, a new video game, taking their kid out to eat, whatever. I think it should be mixed up and not be given too frequently (i.e. don't give them money for every single A on a little quiz, but for the marking period or something). Yes, kids should *want* to learn, but I can think of no bigger turn off than the public school education system. Generally, you sit in a chair for x amount of hours a day while teachers force you to memorize crap. Most kids would rather be playing outside. I can't really think of anyone who actually really liked school. Maybe they liked talking to their friends after class, but they didn't actually like sitting in class.
I hated school all up through college. Once I got to college, I started enjoying going to most of the lectures again. I did more reading on my own time, and not just the regular fiction and fantasy I usually read. I can actually enjoy reading non-fiction books now. My point is, wanting to learn is just something you develop. When you're a kid, you need to be forced to do things you don't like. That's just life. As he grows up, at some point, he'll have to do a job he doesn't like, with money being the incentive obviously. He might as well just start now.

amonkie

I don't know how many people really have this as an option, but the school your kid attends can make a huge difference in motivation. I went to a charter school for junior high, and the entire school was 80 kids in K-8. It was pretty hard to slack off because we got so much personal attention, and the teachers were really close with the students. This made it easier to motivate them to work.
Then, I attended one of the biggest high schools in our state for 4 years, and got lost in the masses of 3000+ students. Because I was motivated to enjoy school while I was younger, I was able to carry it through despite losing some of that close interaction that had made the difference earlier.

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