Does cash motivate students?
The school year started off with a bang. Your child seemed eager to stay on top of his homework, but soon his energy and enthusiasm began to dwindle and now you worry he may be falling behind. Nagging, cajoling, threatening, punishing seem to get you nowhere. And the idea of offering a reward — say, a few dollars for good grades — crosses your mind.
While you’re hardly the first parent to consider paying for A’s, the approach seems to be spreading from families to schools to entire districts. "Learn and earn" programs run the gamut from providing non-cash incentives for good grades (pizza parties, ice cream socials) to paying students cold, hard cash for high test scores. But is it a good idea — at home or in school? I took a look at a controversial program in Brooklyn, NY, inspired in part by Harvard economist Roland Fryer, whom I interviewed for the story. I also spoke to Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards, who argues that paying kids for good grades sends the absolute wrong message — and even backfires.
What would you like to know from these guys about paying for grades? Send me a great question — and I’ll ask Kohn and/or Fryer in a follow-up interview later this month.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Paying for grades sounds like a slippery slope to me, so how do you stop it from escalating out of control.
A 12 year old may be excited over getting $2 for each A grade, but my 16 year old would laugh and offer to pay me that for not having to worry about grades.
So how much is enough of a reward without being too much and how do you deal with different age groups.
I think paying for grades works. My child is responsible for buying his own toys, so he likes the rare opportunity to make a little extra money. He’s very motivated by it.
I wish my parents had paid me for good grades! Having said that i do always buy my daughter a present when she gets her school report if it’s a good one. I am not sure that paying cash for good grades is a good idea kids should want to get straight A’s rather than be bribed .
I have tried this with my youngest daughter. Needless to say it only worked for a short time. Reason being, she took advantage of it and wouldn’t work on her grades unless she received a payoff.
So what I did was take the incentive back and simply told her that she needs to keep her grades up or she will loose her favorite internet game. She is a stubborn one and has tested me well on this. But found out that yes, mom has and will take her game away.
I definitely think that paying for grades works for children at a small age. I have a 6 year old who looks forward to getting good grades and great weekly reports in order to collect a few dollars each week and a nice toy when report cards come in.
I do not pay for grades. We try and teach responsibility to our children and one of them is to try their best in school. Sometimes a ‘B’ is their best and other times an ‘A’ is their best. When a large project is accomplished with a good grade we make sure they know we are proud of them for doing their best.
I remember earning money for good grades. I liked to be able to buy candy, barbies, and other toys that my parents didn’t buy. Receiving perks for making good grades gave me the extra incentive for working harder. But what if there are parents who can’t afford to pay for their kids for making good grades? What are other alternatives?