Cash Rewards for Good Grades?

[Admiral Yi]

Did you get them?

Do you give them now if you're a parent?

Do you think they're a good idea?

Prompted by Malthus' post about Christmas loot for punctuation.

I got them maybe until the end of elementary.  Around 4th grade my parents decided to handicap what they saw as an unfair game and started giving me 500 won (about a buck) for an A on a report card and my brother 1,000 won.

It was an early lesson in in the basic injustice of the human condition.

[garbon]

No, I never got them. I was always very jealous of my cousins who did, particularly as I was running all As while they were sometimes managing to get Bs.

I don't think I would if I was a parent.

[The Brain]

Never got them from my parents. We weren't rich so my uber grades would have destroyed us. In high school I got money from various school foundations for being so goddam awesome all the time.

[derspiess]

I got nothing for getting good grades-- just punishment for getting bad grades.

[Valmy]

Nope...though to be fair I never got very good grades 

I have no plans on giving them to my kids either.  I plan on taking their education pretty seriously though.

[The Larch]

In primary school there was this lady who owned a bar near my school that would reward kids with good grades with free games at their arcade machines. I got myself plenty of those. 

My parents never gave me monetary rewards for good grades, but at the end of the year, if they were good, I could ask for a prent. Again, only at primary school,

[Ed Anger]

McDonalds used to give out happy meals for 'A' grades. I assumed the Liverul pussies made them stop.

[Eddie Teach]

I got a buck per A, 10 bucks for straight As. Think that went up to 25 by high school.

[crazy canuck]

Didnt get them.  Dont give them.  Don't have to - both boys already get straight As

If I had a child who was struggling and other means of motivation didnt work I might do it.

[Camerus]

I never did.  However, I probably would do it if I were a parent (though not with very large sums, perhaps enough to buy a game or two or whatever), since I imagine it's one of the best ways to encourage good study skills from a young age.

[Eddie Teach]

Oh yeah, forgot to add that I got a dollar taken off for each C and if I got a single D or F I got nothing.

[garbon]

I never did.  However, I probably would do it if I were a parent (though not with very large sums, perhaps enough to buy a game or two or whatever), since I imagine it's one of the best ways to encourage good study skills from a young age.

I don't know about that. Particularly at the younger ages, is one going to remain focused enough on a daily basis to keep grades up for a reward months in the future?

[Camerus]

I never did.  However, I probably would do it if I were a parent (though not with very large sums, perhaps enough to buy a game or two or whatever), since I imagine it's one of the best ways to encourage good study skills from a young age.

I don't know about that. Particularly at the younger ages, is one going to remain focused enough on a daily basis to keep grades up for a reward months in the future?

It's certainly better than for unspecified rewards years in the future, i.e. after university graduation.   

But seriously, you could also tie the rewards to specific short-term achievements if that worked better, like test results or whatever.

[garbon]

I never did.  However, I probably would do it if I were a parent (though not with very large sums, perhaps enough to buy a game or two or whatever), since I imagine it's one of the best ways to encourage good study skills from a young age.

I don't know about that. Particularly at the younger ages, is one going to remain focused enough on a daily basis to keep grades up for a reward months in the future?

It's certainly better than for unspecified rewards years in the future, i.e. after university graduation.   

But that's typically more of an intrinsic motivation and I think it is more towards getting into university (/a good one) as grades matter less afterwards.

I suppose so on the short-term ones but I just wonder if that doesn't work well as an attempt to jump start intrinsic motivation to want to do good.

[Viking]

I only got punished for non-perfect grades. I responded by not revealing report cards and being passive aggressive when they were asked for.