Should Kids Get Paid For School?

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by Lamar Tyler | on August 12th, 2008 | 14 comments

Now recently in the news I’ve been seeing more and more about the trial programs they have running in inner city areas where they are paying under performing youth money to go to school and get good grades. I’ve been meaning to write about this one for a while. I was kind of torn on the issue really and hadn’t picked sides as of yet then I heard Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer on the radio this morning. If you aren’t sure what in the world I’m talking about read this.

Fryer’s point was that people use encouragement for kids to get good grades and do the right thing all of the time (just in different ways) so why not now and he thinks what they are doing is working. He said that he teaches a class of 250 at Harvard and even though it’s Harvard no one there likes the process of learning, they are all there because that’s what they need to do in order to get a good job and make… you guessed it money! So he proposed that his project aims at getting those same results.

Like I said before I was torn, then I got to thinking and realised that my mother used to pay me money for my grades. It wasn’t much but for a kid that didn’t have any regular money coming in other than cutting grass around the neighborhood or something like that it was definitely a motivator. Before typing this I looked around the web and found it was pretty much split about whether parents should pay kids for this or not. But still… what the good professor is talking about isn’t being funded by parents the money has to come from somewhere else. Right now it’s being used in inner city areas but if successful what about poor white communities? How about the burbs? If kids in the city get to make money for grades shouldn’t everyone get that same opportunity?

BMWK we need for you to weigh in on this topic and let us know what you think. Should kids get paid for getting good grades and if so by whom – parents or some type of gov’t program? Should kids in suburbia get the same opportunity to make cash as kids in the city? If not what should it be based on, income, zip code, what? I know we have a few teachers that read, we really want to hear what you have to say.

About the author

Lamar and Ronnie Tyler are the creators of the award-winning blog BlackandMarriedWithKids.com . They also are behind the Amazon.com bestselling DVDs Happily Ever After: A Positive Image of Black Marriage, You Saved Me and Men Ain’t Boys that explores manhood in the African American community. The Tylers are also the proud parents of four children.

Teems

ehhh…. money sounds like a cool incentive but if the money is there, it should go to building a better learning environment for these inner city kids. Just because a child is influenced to get better grades doesn’t mean he/she will LEARN and earn those grades the honest way. I knew PLENTY of kids that cheated just to those good grades or their parents (with or without money involved). The incentive should be the foundation that is made towards greater future. I guess that isn’t appealing… :-/
http://detentionslip.org hall monitor

This story was also featured on http://detentionslip.org. It’s a leader for crazy education news. Check it out for some interesting commentary on this issue, and other wild headlines from our schools.

hall monitors last blog post..Tensions flare at Texas dress code meeting
Anna

I gave my kids money for grads. Only A and B’s, they received money every quarter I don’t remember for how many years I did this. It was above the allowance they received for the chores they did. My siblings even matched my money and rewarded grades.

I don’t have a problem with the schools offering money as a reward for grades. I just wonder how it will be done in a fair way to include all zip codes. I have friends and family who just recently migrated to the burbs because it is a buyers market. I know ppl with kids who were born in the burbs but with the cost of higher education for Molly and William IV it is hard for them to keep up. I can tell you the ones who have been in the burbs the longest are now turning into bargain shoppers. They have discovered what I already know, that every high end store has a clearance rack or a clearance dept. They are not food shopping at Churhills or Kroger (but only for the weekly bargains) They have discovered Aldis, Save A Lot and Meijer.
All children willing to work hard for their grades should get rewarded. I only have a problem with it being used for a family expense rather than the kids putting it in the bank or buying something for themselves. I just want kids to be able to be kids. If the money gets used because a kid wants to play a sport and/or a instrument I say I am all for it. There is not an age limit for a paper route, but who wants their kid getting up way before school to deliver papers. If money can be made in school I say let it happen. Once again I am sorry for my long post, but some parents are making their kids grow up way to fast and they don’t get to be kids. Kids do have to go to school until a certain age before they can drop out. This would give some kids a reason to not only go to school but to stay in school. Kids look at school as their job. In watching the first hour of “Black In America” the little girl said, grown ups get paid, why can’t we?
http://keepittrill.blogspot.com Kit (Keep It Trill)

I think our country is too broke for anything, but if they have the money, paying young adults 19-26 to work on and pass their GED might be more successful. By then they’ve matured enough and seen how tough it is to get a job without a HS diploma or GED.

Kit (Keep It Trill)s last blog post..Hard Rocks Love – Lesson 5: Treachery & Toxic Secrets
http://myspace.com/elle_denise elle denise

humph… must be nice. We never got paid for grades. We didn’t have much choice. Get good grades or get out was the unspoken rule! LOL Sure, we received “perks” for certain things, but over all, mom & pops was NOT paying you to do what you’re suppose to do. Please… I wish I thought it.

Kids these days have SOOO many options. I see too many kids of ALL ages going back & forth w/ their parents, having a damn debate b/c they don’t wanna do what’s asked of them. And no, its NOT the white parents, neither! Its the black ones, acting like they owe their child an explanation.

That’s what’s wrong w/them now.

*hops off soapbox* To each its own, I suppose…
kim h20s

i think there are some unfortunate limited circumstances where monetary incentives could be a good thing. i first saw this idea on cnn’s black in america. in a very poor neighborhood the kids were given money for receiving good grades. the money, which came from a nongovernment grant, was deposited in the kids name in a bank account. the money served two main purposes. first, it was a tangible example to the children that they can receive money for doing things besides hustling and playing basketball. second, by putting the money into bank accounts these children were exposed to the concept of banks and other financial institutions that are not the predatory lenders and check cashing places which dominate the inner city.

the program allowed these children to observe and learn what most of us take for granted. we grew up watching our parents do a legal job (which they may or may not love, but it’s a j-o-b) because it results in a paycheck.

so many kids in the inner city aren’t learning what they need to be successful in the middle-class environment. these kids are observing the lifestyles of the baller (both legal and illegal).
http://jmeliving.blogspot.com Nicole

I did not get paid for making good grades. I had never heard of it until my friend, when we were in middle school, said she got some money for her grades. Of course, I went to ask my parents because I had good grades too But all I got was a lecture that I do not have to get paid for good grades, it is a given that I should have them *lol* My kids have not started getting “real”grades yet but I will not give them straight cash for good grades but, if they make decent grades, it is easier for me to get them things throughout the year since they are working hard in school. That should be enough of an incentive.
the Bunny

to elle denise… AMEN!!! those are my sentiments EXACTLY!
Anonymous

I do not think paying kids to make good grades is a good idea. If you want change it must start from the inside. Things like church, mentors, friends, uncles, aunts, siblings, grandparents, mothers, and fathers. I am sure that for each child that is in crisis one person in this group knows about it. We have failed the younger generation. We can no longer say to these kids you are nothing. You cannot pay them without a change of heart and when the money ends most will go back to the same old games. We must speak life to them don’t let your sisters child just keep having a bunch of babies and you not come up with a plan, instead say let’s try to find a way out of this cycle, I know you are better than this. Have something to offer. Do not come off like you are so much better than she is, you have to meet people where they are in life. Do not let your nephew continue to sell drugs and you act like you don’t know where the money is coming from. Let him know that easy is not good and it comes with a huge price tag. Now, what are you saying that message is already out there well preacher, teacher, mother, father don’t let up, keep it real. I heard my husband say to a group of people you must respect a prostitute because if you don’t you are no better than her pimp, she already knows she is not in a good place in her life, so when you see your sister and you say to her look at you, you are just a stank ho. I still say change comes from the inside because I just saw a girl on Oprah that had drug addicted parents and no one in her home to encourage her, but I bet you along the way she saw someone that was doing the right thing that made her want to have a better life, that someone could have been you.
Na

No, because what happens when the money runs out or funding for it is dropped. I’d much rather they offer to pay for the child’s college education, if they finish high school.
Anna

Na Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 10:18 am
No, because what happens when the money runs out or funding for it is dropped. I’d much rather they offer to pay for the child’s college education, if they finish high school.

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If a child keeps good grades and does well in acedemics or sports or even band, they can get a free ride to college. Keeping them in school is a must. Some kids can get a free ride because they are the first generation in their family to go to college.

The man who pays my salary at work (his step daughter) was all city and got a full ride in college for track. Only thing they have to pay for his her books and for her to get her hair and nails done(White ppl, I am talking about).
http://mochadad.blogspot.com Mocha Dad

Absolutely not. I think it sends the wrong message and reinforces materialistic attitudes. Learning should be reward enough. I grew up in an inner city neighborhood and I know that the only way to improve my life, was through education. That was the only motivation I needed.

Mocha Dads last blog post..The Evidence of Things Not Seen
Theresa Perez

YeS!! I STRONGLY beleive that kids should get paid for going to school! For many reasons. not alot of money but something coming in for all the hours of hard work and dedication into study should easily lead up into some sort of change in us students’ pockets. i attend school i nPasaena TX, and we dont have much money here but i know the government has to spare some type of cash for its future doctors,police officers,fire fighters,pilots,army,ect. It would defenetly encourage and modivate the students to attend school.
http://www.getgoodgradeshow.com/ how to get good grades?

hi,

it is seen in most of the country that kids are paying for their education because they don’t have money for good education so they hard work in place of their study but some school who are giving good education and grades for making their future bright and nice….i like their job.

Should Kids Get Paid For School?

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