Sunday, November 10, 2013
Is Paying Kids for Good Grades Wrong?
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. Click on the title
link, read the article and leave your thoughts about "money for grades."
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56 comments:
This is the same concept as saying that you are paying kids to do what they are supposed to do. Your incentive should be doing well in school to get into a good college and lead to a bright future career path. When you do well in school, you are earning money through scholarships. Obtaining scholarships to help you through college is the best incentive to do well in school. You won’t get rewarded for doing well in the real world, so this process is setting them up for failure in my opinion.
Money is an incentive for the weak and unmotivated people who need encouragement to work hard instead of just doing what is the right thing. By paying kids for their work it is only teaching them that you will always receive a prize for any amount of work however in the real world you are not always going to get incentives to work hard except for you know it will lead to a better future. Survival of the fitness fits into the educational system by the hard working individuals succeeding and getting good jobs while the lazy people will get low end jobs if even a job at all. By adding in reward money you are removing this social element and teaching children bad lessons.
Using money to pay kids can be a useful tool. A lot of children may not feel motivated in the beginning about getting good grades and money can be used to encourage good grades and establish stronger studying habits. Eventually as they grow older and realize the benefits of studying, the money rewards can be weaned off slowly and they would have a solid grade report from the start. My parents paid me $25 for every A I got on my report card in 3rd and 4th grade which helped me find better studying practices.
Maybe this is just me speaking from the fact that I WISH I could get paid for this but ... I don't see anything wrong with it. It's nothing more than positive reinforcement, just in a more tangible form. It gives the kids something to strive for, especially those who do not yet grasp the concept of getting good grades for the sake of their futures. I wouldn't have any type of formal agreement with the kids though, because then they would at some point become dependent on the money and feel entitled to it in order to produce good grades. That would be setting them up for disaster. Otherwise, go right ahead. I could only dream of being paid for school. Certainly would make things a tad bit easier.
There are no valuable life lessons from being paid for "good grades" in school. Of course I would enjoy being paid for having an A, but I know that money should never be a factor for a good report card. Grades are meant to encourage the kids to do better, not money. Parents should be encouraging kids to try their best in school by throwing pamphlets from Junior colleges that they will attend to if they don't get good grades. If you want money get a job.
Students should not try to earn good grades just to receive benefits or bribes such as money. My parents always told me that I should try to make good grades for the satisfaction and benefit towards future endeavors because what will happen when one stops receiving awards. I believe that students should try to earn good grades for the pride, even though money would be nice, in knowing that their hard work pays off.
Although money is a powerful incentive that drives people to act in the society, it is not the way we should teach the kids. By rewarding them with money, the kids will not have any self-motivation and will always expect something in return. When they become old enough to have and take care of families, they cannot expect their families to pay them money for every single event. If so, then they merely view life as profitable exchanges rather than enjoyment.
In my opinion I believe that money can play a significant role in motivated people to get get good grades. Many kids that are intelligent come to school but see no point in it because they do not see the immediate effects of the education. Now days everything in this world is based of money. Adding money as an incentive can help boost the kids to keep making good grades. And eventually they will see that since they have a prime source of motivation all off the students will work hard in order to obtain money. In the end if kids see that their is something behind getting a good education it will automatically force them to work harder and diligently.
Kids should get paid. A lot of these students aren't even trying to do good anymore. Too many people do the bare minimum. If they see the value of hardwork, maybe they might be a good asset to society in the future. What this does is motivate them to do what they need. This society is relying on future generations to help our country thrive. How can the country move forward if we don't move forward? If they got paid for their grades, maybe they might do better in school. everyone likes money. It will also help the economy because they are more likely to spend their money causing the Keynesian multiplier effect.
In a way, money as motivation would be extremely effective due to the fact that immediate results are seen. It is difficult for many people to work hard towards a goal so distant, and money for grades is much more achievable to people. However, people getting paid later in life proves beneficial in the sense that only the genuinely "good" people make it. You know, the ones that work hard to work hard and not just because there's something in it for them.
I am on the fence about this topic. While I do agree that the extra motivation will yield positive results grade-wise, I do also agree that this might not be the best lesson to teach kids. I agree with the point that adults work for money so there is no reason why kids shouldn't. However, I also agree that this lesson might teach kids that they shouldn't do anything unless there is something in it for them. This would be a huge moral dilemma, as society could easily become more self-centered than it already is. There are pros and cons to this topic and I cannot see one side being stronger than the other.
Paying kids for good grades is performing what many parents have said. "school is your job". Even though kids already have the incentive of scholarships and such, however in the future the same kids will be adults and will be working for money so this is just preparing them for the future. However, I do have to worry about this making kids lazy to where they will only produce the work for a reward. Its hard to say a definite yes or no answer on the subject.
I think it really depends on the kid and the situation. If the kid is someone who gets in trouble, has a hard time caring about doing well in school, fights back against everything you ask them to do etc then do not reward them with money. It will send the wrong message and it will not instill the values that they need to succeed later on. However, if the kid is a decent kid who does his stuff and understands the value of education, then a little positive reinforcement sometimes isn't a bad thing. If it starts becoming a where is my money type of deal then, well, they just lost a nice thing they had going for them.
I'm torn about the idea of paying kids for good earning good grades. Personally, I’ve never needed that kind of incentive for doing well in school, but I can definitely see how I might help motivate other less enthusiastic students. It could be a good way to get them to try more, but it also teaches a pretty poor lesson about having work ethic and values. Kids should want to do well for the purpose of learning and improving themselves, not because it gets them money in their pockets.
Let me begin by affirming that while giving money as incentive for good grades may boost international gpa, it is morally wrong to do. Incentives to make good grades should be getting into good colleges and ultimately working in a good profession, which is where the real rewards (the ones everyone should be working for in the first place) come from. Paying students off to make good grades is not teaching them the right lesson, which is that high marks should come from self-motivation to improve upon oneself, not for the sake of cash incentive.
Grades should not be dependent on the amount of money you receive, it should be dependent on your motivation and interests. For those children who are unmotivated, money would be a good incentive for better grades. This is so because money is universally appealing. But problem is that once they get used to this economic incentive they get lazy, also, giving them money for good grades will result in a false interpretation of their society. Good grades should not be bribed, it should be expected.
While the obvious reason as to why paying kids for good grades works, there are a few backlashes that may be setting these rewarded children for failure in the future. First of all, paying students is not a foolproof method. Kids may be motivated to cheat, copy, do whatever it takes, in order to make sure they get paid for it. Secondly, giving children money may set them up to think that hard work is always rewarding which is not always the case in the real world- you have to work hard simply because you have to, not because you're getting paid for it. I'm much more in favor of verbal praise and other incentives that do not always involve money. However, I don't think money every now and then, such as at the end of the academic year, as a "surprise" reward would hurt kids either. The key would be to not get them into the habit of expecting money for doing work.
Growing up, my parents always taught me the value of good grades, but sometimes kids don't have the motivation. Either their parents aren't motivating them enough, or they really just don't care. No matter how much you lecture them, they're never going to build that motivation themselves. The thought of education and college is just a blur in their minds. Now, if we start paying kids for their good grades, that might be just the right push for students to start caring about their education and studies. Yes, it may take away from the true value of achieving good grades, it could just boost the falling education system in America. The ends justifies the means.
In Psychology, I learned about positive reinforcement. Paying kids to get good grades is a form of positive reinforcement. The good thing about this program is that kids are pushed out of their apathy towards grades, and they work towards a goal. However, this reinforcement can cause students to expect a reward for anything they do. Thus, creating an unrealistic expectation. In an ideal world, students would want to learn for the sake of gaining knowledge. However, we live in a world were students need an incentive like money to push them to get better grades.
Paying students to work harder in school is ridiculous. They are already receiving a free education; teachers could focus on people who actually want to learn if the world had less people wanting to be paid for receiving a free service. There is too much opportunity for the system to be abused in the form of cheating. Besides, who would pay for all of this? Schools are already short on funds.
Paying kids for good grades is not wrong, it actually prepares them for the future. In our society people who get paid the most are the ones with the most education or most talent which stems from,in most cases, hard work and dedication. Paying children shows them that with hard work comes reward and eventually when they grow up the same concept still reigns supreme.
Although money incentives would boost students' grades, it should not be instated. It is ethically wrong. Students can get good grades through cheating, copying, or other wrong ways just to get that extra cash. The main goal for getting good grades is to get into a good college and being prepared for the future ahead. Students should be motivated to do well in school so that they can be well-prepared for their future career which gives them the real rewards.
I believe a child shouldn't be payed for having good grades. It is a privilege to be able to go to school because people around the world don't have the opportunity to do so. The reward these children get is getting scholarships and having a steady job for the future. Some children would tend to take advantage of getting paid by cheating.
I affirm the aforementioned resolution based on three main points of reasoning:
1) Monetary rewards would function as an additive and immediate incentive for students who are already striving for a better future,
2)Monetary rewards is the likeliest factor to assure the spawning of any form of sought after reaction by school districts.
3)An increase on the importance of becoming the quintessential student stems from claim that student's will take their lives more seriously now that they have a "job"; in the sense that they are earning money for themselves.
Ervin R.
Period 3
I believe it is a great idea to pay kids for good grades when they are younger. The money is a way to build up a child's motivation and help them keep their high grades consistent. However, there are a few issues. When parents stop giving money as a reward, the child's motivation will fall and in result, he/she will begin to not care about their education. Kids that are currently being paid will have a hard time in reality because their parents did not teach them beneficial life long skills to survive. Honestly, I was paid once in a while in elementary school. Maybe $5 or so.. however, I began to realize that my parents are the ones who worked hard for that money. I set a mindset that the biggest reward I got was my family. The money wasn't worth anything. It was just a piece of "paper" with a number and a face. In conclusion, I believe that parents shouldn't think of giving any money rewards, but develop better study habits at an early age.
Money is a powerful incentive, there is no doubt behind that but that shouldn't be the only incentive in a child's life. The point of school is not to get the A, but to learn. Money will just encourage children to make a good grade instead of encourage children to actually learn. Children need to find a reason for success besides just getting money.
Paying kids for grades is an excellent way to improve the amount of learning that takes place in schools. With a reward that is physically tangible and usable in the real world for excelling in class as opposed to just having bragging rights allows children to excel at school because they have a short term reward.
In psychology positive reinforcement is a good way to encourage certain behaviors. However, when behaviors are over incentivized those behaviors can be dissuaded because they are overly enforced. This concept basically states that incentivizing something that already has its benefits means that individuals will no longer want to do whatever behavior being enforced. Seeing that getting good grades should already be incentivized by the want to grow intellectually over enforcement will occur whenever money is offered. My conclusion is that money should not be offered.
I do not believe that paying for good grades is a bad idea. It operates on the belief of positive reinforcement in order to produce efficient behaviors and habits. However, parents need to let their children understand that the reason why they are being paid is because the parents feel as though they want to give their child an extra bonus for doing what they are supposed to do. Otherwise, the child believes that their hard work will always be entitled to receive a monetary incentive, when that is not always the case.
I personally believe that if a parent wants to reward their child for getting good grades, then that parent has the right to but that decision should be left to the parent and the parent alone. I don't think getting paid for getting good grades is a bad thing cause it is the same concept for the kids who get paid for doing chores, which, in my opinion, can be way easier at times than school work. Paying kids can be seen two different ways. One could very much see it as an incentive to get good grades which they shouldn't need but isn't that what people do most of the time by going to work. The other way of seeing it is as a reward for their hard work. I don't think the question should be whether or not they should be getting paid but whether or not it should be the school or the parents doing.
Paying kids for good grades is wrong for many reasons including the fact the school board is wasting their money instead of using is effectively. Kids are already receiving a free education; teachers could focus on people who actually want to learn. Honestly, the money does sound good, but is should be moderated when the kids grow up to be in high school.
Well, I would like to advocate for paying for good grades, but in our current public schooling system, it would be a waste of money. If you have to pay your child to learn, then you are doing it absolutely wrong. The purpose of school is to provide an education for those who really want to learn. Our schooling system is already bad enough, it just consists regurgitating information on tests. Honestly, if school is not your thing, then don't do it, just go do what you actually want to do.
Well, I would like to advocate for paying for good grades, but in our current public schooling system, it would be a waste of money. If you have to pay your child to learn, then you are doing it absolutely wrong. The purpose of school is to provide an education for those who really want to learn. Our schooling system is already bad enough, it just consists regurgitating information on tests. Honestly, if school is not your thing, then don't do it, just go do what you actually want to do.
Rewarding your kids for getting A’s seems controversial in the eyes for parents. I see in that way because it is a way to encourage kids with prizes while making it the only motive for working. If kids learn this, then they would assume that it is the same way in real life. Parents should encourage their kids to work by telling them that it will help them out in the long run.
I think it really depends on the kid. Some kids need the extra motivation of money to get their grades up, and others are self-motivated. Money is simply one form of positive reinforcement for their hard work. For people like me, sometimes the grade you get is all the motivation you need to make a good grade. The problem with giving kids money for grades is that once you stop giving kids money for their grades, you take away the motivation for all of their hard work. Once they get to college and they aren't getting paid to get good grades and show up to class, who's to say they won't fail out? If money is to be given to children for grades, then it should be given as a reward, not as the driving force behind their academics.
I believe the answer to this question depends on the situation with the child and the parents. For the most part, I believe paying kids for getting good grades is stupid because I believe getting good grades is the expectation, not an achievement, and I have self motivation to get good grades because I want to get into a good college and receive a quality education. However, that is the kind of environment that I have been raised in and I have never been given money for good grades. That being said, I would not be opposed to getting money. One the other hand, giving kids money for good grades give them incentive to do well and try hard.
Yes, getting paid to do something that one doesn't necessarily have any desire in doing is wrong. Take Student A for example, he finds passions in dancing and enjoys it because he gets pleasure out of it and it makes people happy. Then, as he slowly beings to catch the eye of many men, he gets a bit of cash. Soon, however, the rewards keeps coming on top of him, then he finds himself dancing around the hundreds of poles in front crowds of men and his smile slowly fades as he only dances for the money. Over time, he's had enough. All those rewards that he's accumulated grow so large, that it turns into to pain. Not the good kind either. He'll be huffin and puffin so hard that you might think he's from Three Little Pigs. He's taken such a large magnitude of it that he just wants it to get out. He can't even walk straight anymore because he feels bad about getting paid to dance. He needs to recover because he's become so numb. Unable to feel anything anymore, he finds himself so unhappy and and so manipulated through a $$ that the incentive of $money$ is not worth one's happiness and purity.
So money should never be used as a motivational factor for kids to bring home good grades, because in the end, children will do anything for that reward. They won't see the value in true learning at the end of the day but rather the $$. And they'll do anything to get that $$, they'll cheat, they'll steal, they'll even pay someone to pay them money, and worst case scenario, they might even start dancing around the thing that firefighters slide down on and waddle like a penguin. You DO NOT want your kid to become a penguin.
At first glance I thought this was a stupid incentive. I mean, your paying people to do what others have done for centuries for free. But here is how I see it. Plain and simple, many of the kids that go to school just don't care. And that is sad to see. Some people do not value education or see its importance the way that others do. There's no doubt that a strong correlation exits between those who are educated to those who make more money as they get older. From the time you get your first job to the time you retire, while, indeed, not always the case, most of the time money is the main motivator. Who's to say it shouldn't be implemented earlier on. If it promotes students to work harder and learn more, than it would be foolish not to do it. By giving this incentive a more effective and competitive educational environment can be made. This would be fantastic! There's no doubt that society would be much better and much more advanced if everyone was more intelligent.
I definitely think that rewarding kids with money for getting good grades is totally viable. However, it is important to find a balance between offering incentives and making sure the child's behavior/moral isn't heavily impacted by it. For example, you don't want your child to be motivated only when there is money involved. Besides, giving too much money to kids could become troublesome since I highly doubt they will save it up for beneficial uses. I still think giving verbal praises works out the best, but giving reasonable incentives from time to time could be good as well.
It's really just an incentive for people to do well. When we're little, we won't know what is important. We sure don't think about college or careers, so we don't know that having good grades is important. However, while we don't know the benefits of having good grades, we also need a solid foundation for the future. Thus, we need some sort of medium that acts as a temporary incentive. At least until when we finally realize what's important and whatnot.
I understand why parents would pay their kids for getting good grades, as it is common to receive a reward for an accomplishment. That being said, I still don't think money is a reasonable incentive for that situation. Over time, some kids may become fixated on only receiving money, detracting from the focus on their education. If parents raise their children to maintain good grades without the use of any monetary benefit, the possibility of the dependence on something in return is prevented.
Paying students for academic achievements in school is a great motivation, however, money can lead to corruption. Money is so corrupting that even the simple act of thinking about it can lead people to act in unethical ways. Instead of using money to motivate children into doing well at school, we can use other incentives, such as having a class pizza party or giving children candy. Also, if we were to pay children to obtain good grades, where would we get the money?
Paying kids for getting good grades does not seem like a good idea. If a parent gives money to his or her kids for this situation, it may motivate them to live well for the wrong reasons. Yes, it is perfectly fine to praise your child for doing well in school, but at the same time, the money may minimize the child's view on the value of hard work, since it could eventually lead to going through the motions in order to receive something they might not have actually earned (possibilities of academic dishonesty). Also, paying kids for their grades is simply bribery, which will only be detrimental in the long run.
This positive reinforcement may soon fail in the long run. There are already things that pay kids for getting good grades: scholarships. However, paying students after every good grade would be not only bad for the economy, but also for the adolescences future. Success and handwork would be stripped away because of incentives not being there during adulthood.
With the high number of failing students across the country, payment for good grades should at least be considered. Motivation is something kids really seem to lack these days and rewarding them for hard work might just be what they need to become successful. Of course, parents would have to teach their kids that payment shouldn't be expected from all work and sometimes you won't get anything at all despite your efforts. As long as the kids stay motivated even after the payments stop, I'm all for rewarding good grades.
Giving your kids money for having good grades is somewhat of a double edged sword. On the positive side, kids will have motivation to do well in school, due to the incentives. But I feel like if you raise a child like that they will always expect a reward for doing something good, when in reality many of your good deed might go unnoticed. They might not do what is asked of them if they know they aren't going to receive immediate gratification.
I personal only get a "good job" for my good efforts, but it would be nice to get a monetary incentive. For those who disagree with it, it is the same concept as getting candy for good behavior in elementary school. If it really works it is something we should think about doing, however it could lead to a mindset that you'll get rewarded for every good/expected thing you do in the future. Which is wrong. As an adult you'll be lucky if you get acknowledged for doing something expected of you. This concept has it's negatives and positives so it's up to the individual to deem it's effectiveness.
I think paying kids for good grades isn't wrong, but it could hurt the kid later in that they will always be expecting something whenever they get a report card.I agree with the people saying that kids should be self motivated to do well in school, but some kids just aren't motivated like that. Some kids need something else (like money) to help motivate them into spending more time in school related matters.
I think the obvious problem here is that people are too obsessed with these numbers called grades, when there is in fact much more to school and learning and becoming a better individual than just grades. Anyways, I think money is the worst possible incentive. What are little kids going to do with money? The incentive should be something that requires less responsibility. Perhaps coupons to a local restaurant or something. Maybe small gift cards.
Although it may seem clever to incentivise kids to do better in school, it will ultimately backfire. Kids who have an aptitude for school will do well in school and those who do not will not. That is why there is a ranking system based on GPA. Giving money to kids also teaches them that they should only learn if they're getting paid to do it. This is not how the real world works. A job requires a pre existing set of skills to attain and get money from and if kids grow up thinking they'll get money just by learning something then they will have a hard time getting a job because they will expect payment for learning how to do it.
From a standpoint where I was not rewarded for good grades, I do not see the premise of providing money for obtaining better grades. Even when I valued money heavily as a child, I still did not grasp the usefulness of money until I matured. I believe better incentives will entice children to apply their knowledge i.e. going to an aquarium to show the various marine life that a child learned while studying aquatic science.
I apologize for the late response Mr. Pye, hopefully this won't detract my learning capabilities in Economics.
In my opinion, rewarding kids with money for getting good grades can only lead to bad outcomes for their future. The act of receiving money should not be exploited into receiving an amount of it for every small outcome that occurs. To achieve the money, students will start taking the classes that are simple and don't matter for their high school career so that they can guarantee themselves an A and get money out of it for doing almost no work at all. This could make all the future workers of our society lazy and uneducated and would eventually lead to the utter destruction of our economy. Money is a scarce resource and should not be given to anyone who goes through the simplest of tasks to achieve it.
I do not believe kids for paying for good grades is right. Some people actually work hard for the grades they get. This means that the rich people doesn't have to work for good grades. This will foreshadow of a future that will not have many people that works hard and many bums on the street. People also change from not wanting an education and wanting an education in people's future. I believe teachers right is that they work the hardest for kids to be successful in life, and that the school should focus more bout an occupation a student like then-general classes.
This is just like saying that one is paying kids to do what they should already be doing. The child should have the incentive to get the grades and make it to college. One should not pay a child to do well in school, it gets rid of the whole meaning of what a school is. One does not get rewards in life if they are just handed to them, they should work to where they want to be in life not paid for it.
I think paying money to kids for going above and beyond is a good idea. For those who believe that money is only a good incentive for the weak, then I guess everyone is weak. The reason children try hard in school is so they can go to a good college, get a good job, and get paid a lot of money. So what's wrong with showing kids how the real world works a little earlier, because for all we know once they get a taste of an award after hard work they will most likely repeat. Just like a dog getting a snack for going into a kennel.
I believe that paying money kids to get better grades somewhat makes sense and somewhat does not. Money provides a great incentive for people to study more. I am pretty sure I would spend time on something if I were to be paid for it. However, if we revert to a system that encourages parents to pay, we lose the value of education. People already just study to get good grades and not for education. paying money will encourage that even more. Furthermore, there are so many parents that CANNOT afford to pay anything already. It would make those kids feel inferior.
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