There have been several experiments by school districts at paying students for attendance, good behavior, and good grades. The most recent attempts in Washington, D.C. and New York City have shown some promising results. Money is a powerful incentive. Read the article and leave your thoughts about "money for grades."
45 comments:
Giving kids a monetary reward for good grades is feasible, but as said in the article, and by the comments under it, the child should be paid as if they were doing a job. Chores and regular responsibilities are not a job and shouldn't be paid for. School may be considered a job because the time and effort put into it, but always remember to give to them proportionately, not too much but not too little. This program could start around the time they enter 4-5th grade an continue, scaling the reward to the child's current "need". The big thing about this program though is that parents are not always able to do this if their financial assets are poor, so this will not work on every kid unless the school district gets involved, meaning more money to school districts, and someone is going to have to watch where this money goes. Overall the idea is good, but will cause problems because if school districts get involved the money is most likely going to be used for the school, not the kids.
Giving kids a reward, not necessarily money, is a smart idea. Personally, i like be recognized for all of the hard work i do. My parents do not pay me or anything. Sometimes all i want is a nice dinner as a 'Congratulations! Keep up the hard work!' I think it would be a bad idea ofr schools to start paying it's students. Firstly, there is so little money for schools as it is and giving money to students would take away from much needed programs. Secondly, it would allow students to believe that using money to get what you want is okay. It would be better to have incentives like pizza day, or school picnic parties, etc. to promote grades through bribery.
Despite being a student and wanting to ask where's my paycheck, I honestly don't see any reason to pay students for getting good grades. Just as interns are not often paid for internships or apprenticeships. Often times apprenticeships are paid for by the apprentice themselves. When it comes to things like school, students really shouldn't be paid for learning what will only better themselves. In the long run, a higher paying job is more than adequate enough incentive to pay attention in class.
I see nothing wrong with paying students for good grades. Its an apparent part of human nature that we will do many things if it offers an incentive appealing enough to us. Well case and point, students and money. Some call money the root of all evil, but it inspires good grades as well, as I have known many of my friends from elementary school onward to have received money for making good grades. Also, giving money to students for good grades would cause students to take grades more seriously and turn America's decline in the number of educated students into a linear or perhaps exponential increase in educated students.
I disagree with the concept of paying kids for their good grades. In today's society, the academic world is competitive enough already, and many students cheat excessively to keep up with their peers. Students would find alternative measures to studying and working hard to get money. Succeeding in school and eventually in future careers is a better incentive than receiving money.
Although the idea of students being paid for attendance, good behavior, and good grades seems gratifying at first, in the long run it won't be beneficial to the student. If this idea that accomplishing something good will always gets you money, will a person do something well just for their own satisfaction? Students should already have the drive to do well in school because it can only help them in their future.
Rewarding good work is a very good idea. It helps promote more students to put their full effort into whatever they are doing, because, as humans, they respond to positive reinforcement. Now money does not have to be the only provider, but it can be used for certain tasks that can be considered a job, such as studying and making good grades. But too much importance must not be placed on this money incentive, because this can damage the children's view on everything they do. And what about those who study very hard but still have a difficult time making good grades? If they do decide to go on with this money for good grades program, I would be sad that they did not start it earlier.
Giving kids rewards, in order to get them to do what you want them to do is a smart idea, no matter what the gift is. However the gift must be something that is desirable to the child. This idea would, overall, improve student's grades, school attendance, and behavior. Even though money for grades would turn out to be a huge financial expense, this expense would help improve society. The reason why these rewards would indirectly lead to an improvement of society is because there would be more educated individuals out there. This incentive would also help our next generation of workers improve our societies development as a whole, and it would allow the United States to maintain its superiority to other countries.
I disagree with the concept of paying students for their grades. Newer generations are already more of the attitude "why should I do it if I don't get anything out of it" and paying students for grades and attendance will only strengthen that belief. I think that being a student is a trade off: you go to school and do not get paid, but have entire summers and holiday breaks off without earning them, and your youth is accompanied by a sense of freedom to make mistakes without too harsh of punishments. Also, if young adults want income, they have the choice to get themselves hired. On the other hand, adults mostly have to work full time and year round, although they do get paid for their efforts and have more control over their lives. I think there is a balance of life at all stages, and although students probably wish they got paid in cash on the spot, they actually do reap benefits from education later on in life, when having a job is no longer an option.
Why weren't we having this conversation twelve years ago when we were starting the first grade?! I feel that paying kids can be a great motivator for them to improve their grades, particularly in the early years of elementary school and middle school. It can boost their grades and give them a reason to work hard when they may feel as if they don't have to. However, by late middle school and high school, students should be developing that competitive drive characteristic of successful people in the world today. They need to be motivated to do well in school so that they give themselves the best foundations for the rest of their lives and not just for that 20 dollars.
I think that paying your kids when they get good grades would be harmful in the end. Like other people have said, giving them money will just tell them that they should get something in return for everything that they do. I think parents should just motivate, and tell their kids the importance of doing good in school from an early age. Instead of just taking the easy way out and paying their kids to get A's and B's.
The argument can go either way, and based on several studies conducted within the past 2 years by various sources, such as NY Times or Times, the percentage of students performing better in school went substantially up. Now this is a good emulation of real life for the ultimate goal of most students when they obtain a good education is to eran a large amount of money. Sadly, such an action may simulate a sense of selfishness or lack of motivation (in a different way). Also this action is analogous to bribing to the kids to do well in school. Also in a recession, where are school districts going to recive the funding for such a program? This is an important issue if such an idea is to be expanded around the U.S.A. Overall the idea is plausible, however there are many barriers to climb, such as parents, funding issues, and the idea of bribing kids to do well in school.
While paying students for good grades could encourage them to work harder, schools hardly have the money to maintain such an expensive program. Furthermore, it would be difficult to distinguish the kids who have harder studying versus the kids who worked harder cheating. Bribing students should be a program implemented in more schools before concrete results can be seen. Greed is a great motivator but should be used with precaution.
although i would love to get money for my grades, i believe that by paying children to get good grades has a more negative rather than positive effect. For example, if as a child you are given money as a result of good grades then in order to maintain that revenue the child might begin cheating in schools. Furthermore, paying a student will cause them to expect a reward for every achievement which in the real world is sadly not so common.
i disagree with the idea of giving kids money for studying and keeping up with good grades. since the academic is competetive people cheat to be the 1st rank holder. some students are studying for their future not just for the money!!
I personally see nothing wrong with rewarding kids money for doing a good job in school. A monetary reward is something that all humans react to, so why would kids be any different? However, I don't believe that money should just be handed out for things like attendance and good behavior, especially at the higher levels of school, but I see no problem with paying kids money that is scaled to the difficulty of the class or whether the grade was an A or B because it will inspire kids to work harder and, therefore, learn more.
I think that kids being paid to do well in school may help for some incentive, but the child needs to have motivation through self interest. Being a student can sometimes seem like a full time job, but being paid to succeed can take the desire for learning and progression out and replace it with solely the desire for money. When the student is raised with this ideal, he will only be motivated by money then and therefore as he is looking for a job, the criteria will only be salary. A person should not choose a job based on the money they will earn, they should have other motivation to succeed in life. For students, it should be the same way. A student should actually want to learn or at least succeed in school. Because not all students are self-motivated, it can be difficult to get students to succeed in school. Incentives could be helpful, but paying students is definitely ridiculous and more destructive than helpful.
I think if we lived in a world were schools had an unlimited supply of money, this idea would be amazing. I was rewarded as a child for good grades in the same way the author of the article was. My parents have stopped the cash incentive as I enter high school, however now I work for good grades because I know the importance of them. I think if you were to balance cash rewards and teaching children that grades in school affect your future our youth would become much more successful. I think it is important to note that we work for money all of our lives and paying kids for good grades would mirror the workforce. However, finding the money to establish this system would be near impossible.
I believe that rewarding kids for achieving good grades can be beneficial, but monetary rewards might send the wrong message. First of all, everyone is naturally talented in different subjects. Some students prefer art or music to academics, which is perfectly fine. Giving money to kids who get good grades would make students think that their abilities outside of regular schoolwork are not nearly as important as their grades, causing them to lose their motivation to develop their own special talents. In addition, setting into place a formal system for awarding kids with money could encourage cheating, because kids will do anything to get that extra amount of money. Their will not be as much of an incentive for kids to work with other classmates in study groups because grades would become the focus for survival-of-the fittest intense competition. Another problem could be that the students participating in the program are from varying backgrounds that affect their performance in school. Kids from slightly more affluent families will tend to have a home environment that emphasizes education and do not ask that their children work before college, and as a result these kids' grades will also tend to be higher than those of their poorer classmates. Rewarding the top students would thus probably funnel money to kids who already are from more money-secure backgrounds and are not forced to help support their family through afterschool work that takes away time to study, complete homework, and excel in school. Finally, education itself is supposed to lay the foundation for success later in life; paying kids for good grades creates the impression that grades, not knowledge and skills vital for the future, are of primary importance. Giving money to students for getting good grades might improve their success in the classroom before college, but once that financial incentive is removed when they enter universities, they may lose the motivation to further improve their education. Occasional rewards other than money for students who obtain good grades can be effective in motivating students but not take the emphasis away from receiving a good education nor cause kids to think that non-academic activities do not matter. Paying kids for good grades may temporarily improve their success in the classroom, but in the long run, this system will not be effective in ensuring that American students are as well educated as students of other countries whom do not receive money for getting good grades.
I feel on the fence for both sides of this story. On one side I can agree that giving kids money is a good idea simply they feel like their hard work was seen and they are rewarded for it. It is a good incintive to get kids on the right track. On the other hand, however, I thing it's pretty low when kids need money to do well in school. I bleieve that they should strive to make good grades on their own, not because someone is willing to give them money for it. This story will always have two sides.
From a student's perspective, you can't imagine that they'd complain if they were given money for doing well. However, just a sign of approval or something less lasting like a movie night or a free sleepover with friends could be reward enough. But you can't let kids think that they only do things for the rewards. Somehow, you need to get them motivated to do well just for the sake of doing well. Harsh punishment is never recommended, but some form of discipline, a "do better next time", might be useful. Being an active part of your kid's education is also a great way to get them interested as well. The same information can be taken a lot differently when it comes from a parent rather than a teacher, after all. Overall, the occasional increase in allowance is okay, but getting kids motivated on their own is best.
Rewarding kids for good work would be a smart thing to do. Yes, they should want to do it by themselves. Yes, they should see that good greats have good benefits. However, these benefits are far in the future, and it is much harder to do something that will only be rewarded years later. If kids are given an immediate reward, then they are more likely to desire good grades. Money is always great, but, like the article said, other rewards may have the same desired effect. Most kids are punished for bad grades, but this only sets a minimum standard and the child will keep their grades above this. However, by setting a high goal the kid will then strive higher rather than lower. Rewarding good work will always make the worker try harder as long as the goal is not set too low.
I agree with the idea of paying kids for good grades. Going to school is much like a full time job because students attend at least 35 hours a week of school. By paying them for their achievements your teaching them early that working hard at your "job" can result in money. I believe this technique will not only improve students performance in school because of the short term incentive but it will also teach them that hard work is rewarded when they get a real job and the money matters.
Giving kids money in return for good grades, behavior, and attendance seems like a reasonable idea to me. I don't see anything wrong with this. I actually think it would be very beneficial because the kids would feel the need to work toward these goals in school more so than they do now. I feel like money is desired by youth, thus would encourage them to succeed. However, this does have the risk of raising the number of the amount of people who cheat, but I think for the most part that paying kids for good grade is smart!
Honestly, it can go either way. I think it depends on the kid. If you have a child that always makes wonderful grades, such as myself, then a parent could be i guess you can say "losing" money for every report card and/or progress report almost every three weeks. That could get a little out of hand because what if the parent does not have the money to pay up? I would say pay every once in a while. But everytime? That just spoils the child and they'll start to set expectations and when they do not get it, someone is going to be pretty upset. Kids shouldn't make good grades to expect something. They should make good grades because its the right thing to do and really should just want to, so when college comes, they can have a sense of what their future is looking like. Sadly, bribing kids with money works, but this is education. Either you want it or you don't.
Giving the children money has the right idea behind it. However, the incintive does not necessarily have to be in monetary form. Positive feedback is one of the things that could boost the children's moral and motivation toward a higher education. If there is any kind of reward for a higher education it will cause some of the underachieveing students the boost the so desperatly need. This is overall a good idea, but if the kids get dependent on the bribe they might not be able to make the grades when it counts
D.J. Hicks
7th Period
Although getting paid for my grades sounds like a great incentive, I believe it’s a poor idea. Due to the fact that we a referring to children who’s brains are not yet fully developed, it is vital to store the correct morals into them from the start. Paying children for requirements won’t help them gain the values that they will need for the rest of their lives. If they were simply paid to do what they were supposed to, they would miss out on the character gained by doing it because they need to
I doubt paying kids to study will actually do anything. There was a Time article where the cover story was paying kids to study, and it showed how there was very little improvement. The only significant improvement was when children were paid to read rather than paid to get good grades. It's really not an effective incentive - the kids get paid after doing the "work," but the work is usually so tedious that they don't think about the end reward. If they were, however, to be paid in the process of studying, the results will be different, but it will be extremely difficult to measure that.
If anything, it might promote cheating since kids will try to get higher grades for the cash without doing the work. Also, the kids who this program was designed for don't have the best track record for spending. Spending tax dollars for kids who might spend it on illicit activities will kill the economy since the money gets sucked out of circulation.
Overall, the idea appeals to me since I would be getting paid for doing what I already do. As shown on a previous blog, 90% of my day goes to school work, so being paid for making good grades will be a nice way to make up for the income I could be making from a part-time job. However, this program will harm more than it does good. I say it should be altered to either pay kids for reading books or pay kids as they study. Though the latter may be quite impossible, the former is an excellent alternative.
I totally agree with giving kids monetary incentives to get good grades. It helps them to learn that hard work "pays off". School is a job in a sense, so i believe kids should be paid for how well they perform at their job, just like in the real world. I was given monetary incentives for good grades, and it worked out pretty well for me.
I personally believe that the only reward for good performance in school is the knowledge gained and the assurance of a secure future. Call me old fashioned, but it is the hopeful visions of future prosperity that drive my desire to succeed. Rather than reward students in physical, monetary ways, society should let the students reward themselves through something much more important: ambition, and the realization that good grades will be relevant for the rest of one's life.
I feel that rewarding kids for there hard work by paying them is an effective way to make them work harder. By setting a "goal" for the child, they work harder so they can get the 5 dollars for each A on there report card. By paying kids for good grades, it gives the child a reason to work harder in school. So no I don't feel that paying kids for good grades is wrong.
I do not agree with the idea of paying kids for good grades. Study is not a job, it's their own responsibility, which is what they are suppose to do. Kids may be awarded when they get good grades in school, but not being paid. What if a student who was paid for grades is not paid anymore(like in college)? He is most likely going to stop studying.
I believe that giving kids a rewards for going to school is a good idea. Everyone would much harder than they normally would and would increase the competition at these schools. Student's grades, attendance, and how they act in school would all change if they were given a reward for doing a good job.
There are a number of reasons cited for paying kids for their grades. However, this is a fundamentally poor practice. Students cannot be motivated by external checks such as monetary incentives, because it deprives them of the chance to gain internal initiative in their own education. This in turn prevents them from establishing legitamate interest in a number of school subjects, meaning that when these checks are removed (post high school graduation) they will be unable to enjoy the wonderful world of academia. These motivations teach students to act like mice. When you press the button you get a piece of cheese. Eventually the mouse will sit on the button, continuously stuffing it's face with cheese, and will lose motivation for life.
Trolling,
Pettyjohn
In my opinion, paying students for their grades will not only benefit students, but will also benefit schools, as standardized test scores are one of the main determining factors on how much schools get paid. Strong initiative for doing well in classes and learning more will undeniably do a lot to prepare students for standardized tests and increase the passing and commended rates. Students will gain motivation for doing well in school and as a result will get into better colleges and become more productive members of society. Also, personally, (I'm not bragging) I wouldn't mind raking in some substantial cash every 9 weeks.
@ The troll, paying students for grades will have little effect on negating the chance of internal initiative, because many kids already get paid by their parents for grades and still exhibit an internal devotion to adademics. As for the mouse analogy, the mouse will not necessarily lose motivation for life, because if it continually stuffs its face with cheese, it will grow tired of eating cheese and lose interest in pressing the button. A more correct analogy would be a mouse learning the mechanics of how the button actually produces the cheese and then manipulating the system to gain substantially large bulk quantities of cheese when the button is pressed, thereby decreasing the necessary work required to get the cheese.
i think giving kids incentives like monetary reard or any type of social good will increase their competiveness in class. but is this moral. i think kids are supposed to study anyway without the incentives. i think giving kida money is a bad idea because it makes them too much atracted to money and i think it is wrong if a person is too attached to money. well the goverment should test it out but i would rather terll the kida to try harder if you want to be successdull in life. there are no shortcuts. i speak from experience
I like the idea of kids being paid for good grades. My parents follow as similar system with me. For every A i get on my report card i would receive 10 dollars and every B five.
We used this system of encouragement all throughout my school career even up till now. It probably was one of my biggest reasons for trying hard in school since i was in the 1st grade. But i wonder how the schools are going to pay the kids? I doubt Fort Bend would be willing to pay me for my grades.
i think it's a reasonable decision to pay kids money for good grades. i think it teaches them that there are positive consequences for choices instead of only the negative ones they see if they do the wrong thing. It also may give kids the attention they desire which would lead to less acting out and give child a more achievable goal to work towards. the problem, however, is where do people draw the age line to start and stop paying children also how much will they get paid. Problems could arise if one child is paid more than another.
I personally disagree with the topic of kids being paid a reward as cash for earning good grades. As kids that is what they are supposed to do, a reward would tempt their immature minds to try unfair means to somehow get a good grade. Studying hard and working diligently will pay off once the kid exits out of schooling.
i think giving incentives to children in order to perform better in school is a good idea. Among today's teenager's we often see the lack of motivation to perform well in high school. But however, if they are paid to do well in school, these kids will be more motivated than before.This idea would, overall, improve student's grades, school attendance, and behavior. Even though money for grades would turn out to be a huge financial expense, this expense would help improve society.
Giving kids money for good grades may seem like a good idea, but it does have its drawbacks. For one it could make kids feel obligated of receiving rewards in the future for whatever activity they do. On the other hand it could strengthen the desire of students to study because they receive money, but if they stop receiving the money for good grades they may stop desiring to study.
Although, paying the kids with money as a reward is a helpful incentive and may promote more work and studying for each individual student, the most important thing about a student's ability is how he are able to support themselves. The student must be able to encourage his own improvement and to push himself up the ranks to being a successful businessman, doctor, artist, or whatever he wants to be. Instead of depending on others for encouragement and the small push to success, he should be able to carry himself up that rocky mountain and learn to real value of self accomplishment. Despite being a feasible support in the early years of elementary, middle, and high school, the students will lose that foundation once he reaches college. What then? Would he still have to strength to carry himself along without someone else to give him the extra push?
I very strongly disagree with the concept of paying students for getting good grades. Kids these days already have very bratty attitude towards most things; they never do anything unless there's going to be something in it for them. If anything needs to change, it's how parents are parenting their children. Paying children for getting good grades just reinforces the notion that you should get paid/in some way materialistically compensated for everything you do, which is not the case in the real world. Things like internships don't offer monetary compensation.
Not to say that giving children praise for making good grades is a bad thing -- I certainly don't mind -- but giving a monetary reward for good grades just seems sort of stupid. Like I said above, the attitudes need to change, and as well as how parents are going about parenting: encourage a child to make better grades because it'll give them the satisfaction of having accomplished something, or because good grades are good to have. I often find that my parents' disappointment in me when I make a grade that isn't so great works a lot better than saying "No $50 for you." The concept that good grades are something to strive for regardless of monetary compensation is something more parents should promote; my parents have done that, and I honestly think I'm in a much better position because of that.
I think that if parents or administrators have enough funding to do so, then sure why shouldn't the kids be paid to do well in school. Being a student is a job within itself and should be compensated for doing well. We go to school to get a decent job and to make money. In the work force money is used as an incentive for people to do work, so there shouldn't be a difference for students. Rewarding students for a good job is not unethical.
I dont agree with paying students to get good grades becuse the incentives of being succesful are already layed out for example going to college, getting a good job
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