Don't feel like studying? What if I pay you?

[manlymatt83]

Text

 

[Exterous]

"IF we don't do something"??? How about getting the damn parents involved! Paying them to study is not going to do anything for them in the long run other than teach them bad habits

 

[erub]

In HS, I was a pretty unmotivated student, especially my freshman year. My parents paid me $50 for each A per quarter starting in my sophmore year. The result was I worked harder, and then got a free ride and then some on an academic scholarship for undergrad (which motivated me also, because I had to keep above a 3.5 GPA to keep it). The result of that was that I got a free ride for a masters program. I now have my MSEE, having received about 150K in free education + scholarships for their roughly $2K investment over my last 3 years in HS. I'd say thats not a bad ROI.

OTOH, my parents have told me that such tricks wouldnt have worked on my sister, for her getting an education was good enough, and she's never been (still isn't really) motivated by money. She just finished her medical residency. I was/am interested in getting the latest electronic toys so it was either invest the time studying or have a part-time job..guess it all worked out in the end

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: erub
In HS, I was a pretty unmotivated student, especially my freshman year. My parents paid me $50 for each A per quarter starting in my sophmore year. The result was I worked harder, and then got a free ride and then some on an academic scholarship for undergrad (which motivated me also, because I had to keep above a 3.5 GPA to keep it). The result of that was that I got a free ride for a masters program. I now have my MSEE, having received about 150K in free education + scholarships for their roughly $2K investment over my last 3 years in HS. I'd say thats not a bad ROI.

OTOH, my parents have told me that such tricks wouldnt have worked on my sister, for her getting an education was good enough, and she's never been (still isn't really) motivated by money. She just finished her medical residency. I was/am interested in getting the latest electronic toys so it was either invest the time studying or have a part-time job..guess it all worked out in the end

My parents are looking at a better ROI - A's were the baseline expectation for me throughout highschool. No money for A's. $0 investment: any yields will make for an infinite ROI ratio.

Of course, right now, I'm several thousand dollars in debt from student loans. Hopefully if I get one of those nice high-paid engineering jobs (for me, >$40K would be double anything I've ever made before), I can pay off my loans in my first year of employment.

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
My parents are looking at a better ROI - A's were the baseline expectation for me throughout highschool. No money for A's. $0 investment: any yields will make for an infinite ROI ratio.

Of course, right now, I'm several thousand dollars in debt from student loans. Hopefully if I get one of those nice high-paid engineering jobs (for me, >$40K would be double anything I've ever made before), I can pay off my loans in my first year of employment.

Ditto. IMO if the parents create an environment where effort/good grades are expected then the child will be better off in life. I would imagine this would have a higher success rate than offering money. Besides, I can just see the "I'm not being paid (enough) for this." attitude getting significantly worse

 

[Eeezee]

This is just foolish. Students are already paid to study - study minimally and you can at least get a full ride to any state university. Study hard enough and you'll have a living wage, room and board, tuition, books, etc. all paid for. Students already know this, they just don't care.

I don't think we should reward students for doing what they should be doing anyway. You reward yourself by studying, not only immediately (knowledge) but in the long term as well.

 

[BoomerD]

I DO get paid to study...My voc-rehab program pays for my tuition, books, and supplies, and pays me a stipend to cover my expenses, PLUS, my workman's comp pays me bi-weekly as well.

 

[Farang]

As illogical as it sounds this program makes sense. Some students in high school just don't understand the importance of studying, and how easy it is to do well in school if you have good habits. They see themselves as stuck in the 1.5-2.0 GPA range. Give them a taste of success and it will create a snowball effect. Plus the article brings up a good point, that upper-middle-class parents offer incentives for grades anyways, so it evens things out.

Also this is privately funded so no need to complain about it.

 

[MyThirdEye]

I get a pretty hefty payment for keeping my GPA over 3.5

 

[Gunslinger08]

Originally posted by: Farang
As illogical as it sounds this program makes sense. Some students in high school just don't understand the importance of studying, and how easy it is to do well in school if you have good habits. They see themselves as stuck in the 1.5-2.0 GPA range. Give them a taste of success and it will create a snowball effect. Plus the article brings up a good point, that upper-middle-class parents offer incentives for grades anyways, so it evens things out.

Also this is privately funded so no need to complain about it.

My parents never paid me for grades, and I got all A's throughout elementary, middle, and high school. The problem isn't the children. It's the parents. Expect something from your children and tell them about it. You'd be surprised how far that goes.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: amjohns5
I get a pretty hefty payment for keeping my GPA over 3.5

Wtf, I get nothing for that exact thing

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: amjohns5
I get a pretty hefty payment for keeping my GPA over 3.5

Wtf, I get nothing for that exact thing

Are you sad because amjohns managed to work a better deal than you?

 

[Bibble]

My mom gave me money for good grades starting in elementary school through high school. I would receive one dollar for each B and two dollars for each A on my report card. If I got straight As I would get 20 bucks. However, this was not really an incentive for me to do well as much as a bonus. It certainly did not make me work any harder as I achieved high grades anyway. My main incentive for doing well in school is and has always been the prospect of a getting a good job which will allow me to live a comfortable life.

That being said, I'd like to see what motivates the most successful students in this country, and then try to replicate and instill it in kids who lack motivation. If this happens to be a desire for money, then this might work out.

 

[homercles337]

How do they determine the students with promise when they have shitty grades?

 

[wkabel23]

Originally posted by: joshsquall

Originally posted by: Farang
As illogical as it sounds this program makes sense. Some students in high school just don't understand the importance of studying, and how easy it is to do well in school if you have good habits. They see themselves as stuck in the 1.5-2.0 GPA range. Give them a taste of success and it will create a snowball effect. Plus the article brings up a good point, that upper-middle-class parents offer incentives for grades anyways, so it evens things out.

Also this is privately funded so no need to complain about it.

My parents never paid me for grades, and I got all A's throughout elementary, middle, and high school. The problem isn't the children. It's the parents. Expect something from your children and tell them about it. You'd be surprised how far that goes.

So how do you fix the parents?

You appear to understand that bad parenting causes a lot of problems, but unfortunately you seem content to parrot on about how bad the parents are, while leaving the kids out in the cold.

They are looking into alternative ways to turn children into students, because clearly parenting has fallen short. Is it easier to turn a child into a student or an adult into a good parent?

 

[ChaoZ]

My parents paid me for As when I was in elementary and parts of middle school. I think I did get better grades then as I remember always having an above 3.50 gpa. My gpa did decline after they stopped rewarding me. It was probably due to me having shitty teachers though. I try a lot less harder if I feel the teacher is incompetent.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: homercles337
How do they determine the students with promise when they have shitty grades?

That was my reaction too. Why don't they pay the kids to get good grades instead?

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante

Originally posted by: homercles337
How do they determine the students with promise when they have shitty grades?

That was my reaction too. Why don't they pay the kids to get good grades instead?

I agree totally........... I'm not trying to point to race, but the people that usually argue the point are black. I have a few black friends and they agree with me 100% on this. They even say, the dumb ones should be required to learn just like the rest of us, black or white!

Don't all schools just pass every kid now, even if they get bad grades? In some areas I know, you cannot be flunk-ed.

 

[Imdmn04]

I agree with the concept, but not the practice.

They should reward kids based on grades, not for showing up.

This is pretty much the same concept as real life. If you study hard, you goto a good college, you get a good job, and you are rewarded with good money.
They are simply pushing the rewards part (albeit really small amount in the big picture) to an earlier stage of life.

 

[Mo0o]

i asked my parents to give me money for grades and they just laughed.

 

[DangerAardvark]

It sounds ludicrous, but if it works, it works. And I think I remember reading about some study showing that it does work, somewhere on the internets.

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
i asked my parents to give me money for grades and they just laughed.

lol same

 

[maxster]

$$$$$

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: amjohns5
I get a pretty hefty payment for keeping my GPA over 3.5

i used to get 50$ if i got straight As in HS for the a/4 or whatever

i used to get them anyway, but 50$ is 50$