Home > Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Styles > Parenting Tips
Should good grades be rewarded with cash?
Results so far:
| Yes | 47% | 743 votes | Total: 1585 votes | |
| No | 53% | 842 votes |
Yes
by Genenda Milloy
Created on: June 06, 2009
Offering monetary compensation for good grades may be effective for some children, but not for others. The trick is to find out which means of motivation work best for your child. Educators are taught about two means of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation involves a person's sense of self and accomplishment, while extrinsic motivation involves outside forces which encourage a person to behave in a certain manner. Personally, I believe that a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is the best way to motivate children toward anything, including grades.
When I was a child, I recall looking forward to report card day. My family did not offer large amounts of money- to a young child, receiving a dollar for every A and fifty cents for every B is enough to make a person rich. I remember eagerly bringing my report card home and sitting through the ritual in which my father and grandfather would exaggerate the amount of time it took them to add up how much money I would get. Sometimes they would make mistakes in counting up the money, and I would have to be vigilant to make sure I was getting the right amount. This, in itself, was their way of teaching me to count money.
My family's attitude toward school was that it was my job. They told me that when I grow up, I would have to work hard to make money, and that getting good grades now would reap the same benefits. I believe that this prepared me for life. Today, I have a strong work ethic and take great pride in a job well-done. As a matter of fact, I am a teacher, and I often combine intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. If paying children for good grades is not productive, can the same not be said of giving them stickers on an A assignment? The reward is not just a prize; it is recognition of a job well-done.
More important that the financial motivation, my family told me how proud they were, as I was being rewarded for my good grades. At the time, I thought it was the money that mattered, but when I look back, I can still remember the sense of pride I felt when my parents told me how smart I was for getting all A's and B's or that they knew I was going to grow up and be the first in the family to go to college. When using money or any form of extrinsic motivation with children, the key is to combine it with intrinsic motivation to help the child feel a sense of accomplishment.
Think about your own experiences at work. You can go to your job and go through the motions, just for a paycheck. However, you can also put in extra effort and take pride in knowing that you have done well. If your boss tells you that this extra attention to detail is appreciated, it makes you feel good. Yes, the paycheck motivates you to do enough, but that intrinsic motivation of self-accomplishment encourages you to keep pushing yourself. Therefore, the combination helps you to become a better worker. Can the same not be said of children and their schoolwork?
Learn more about this author, Genenda Milloy.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
by Carol Gioia
Created on: October 24, 2007 Last Updated: March 13, 2008
When your student grows up and has the ability to obtain superior employment or a lucrative career because he is well educated, he will be monetarily rewarded. In the meantime, equating good grades with opportunities to "cash in" is a mistake.
There is a psychological component to the correlation between learning and grades. When a child starts school, there is an unspoken agreement established between the educational system, the teachers and your child. The child pays attention, performs to the best of his ability and is rewarded for his efforts with grades. The child quickly realizes, the more effort expended, the better the grade. The priority is to learn; the reward is the grade.
The parents role is to use the grade merely as a reflection of the progress the child is making in his educational journey. Putting too much emphasis on grades, using rewards and punishment, transfers the grading system out of the educational arena into the realm of parental discipline.
The report card belongs to the student. It is a reflection of the student's achievement or failure. It has nothing to do with parental performance. Parents often brag about their child's grades, or become angry if the child does not perform to their expectations. A child cannot be rewarded or punished into learning. You also cannot "buy" good grades.
Once parents begin to interfere with the learning process by attempting to "control" the child's grades with inappropriate response, such as promising rewards of money, a cycle of dysfunctional learning behavior is created. The emphasis is no longer on learning to the best of the student's ability. The focus suddenly converts to getting good grades to "please" the parents or obtain the promised reward. When the reward is withheld for less than stellar performance, the child loses motivation and getting poor grades is often the resulting act of rebellion. Learning is out of the equation, as grades become a power struggle between parent and child.
Ways for parents to avoid interfering with the student's learning process, and allowing grades to be their own reward:
* View the report card strictly as a progress report. Be supportive if your child's grades indicate he is struggling. Your child's efforts are best measured by the conduct grade. If your child has good conduct, he is probably performing to the best of his ability. Contact his teacher and ask for suggestions on how you can help your child.
* Be objective. Point out how proud a child should be of himself if he achieves high grades, as opposed to how proud you are, making it clear the grade and the accomplishment belong to the child.
* Stress to the child the most important grade is always the one for conduct. If a child excels in conduct, i.e. behaving in class, turning in assignments on time, participating in class discussion, then the academic grades will truly reflect his capabilities and be the measure of his ability they are intended to be.
* Celebrate your child's achievement of good conduct with whatever reward you deem appropriate; such as, a new outfit, a desired video game, a special outing, or whatever gives the child pleasure. Always stress the reward is for good conduct.
If you have multiple children you will find the above tips prevent the inevitable sense of unfairness toward one over another. All children cannot perform academically at the same level, but they can have equally good conduct.
By starting right at the beginning of your child's educational journey allowing his grades to be between him and his teachers, and continuing in the same consistent attitude throughout his school years, you will be rewarding your child with a gift more valuable than any amount of money. You will be allowing him to possess his own achievements and sense of self worth.
Your child will grow up to be a highly productive individual, who will surely achieve great things because he is self motivated.
Learn more about this author, Carol Gioia.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Write and get published
Share with other writers
Polish your freelancing skills
Quality articles from proven freelancers
Exclusive rights, fast turnaround
Brand engagement, business blogging -- our writers do it all
INFORMATION
Copyright © 2002-2012 Helium, Inc. All rights reserved.
Helium.com: A Service of RR Donnelley