Opinions vary on paying kids for good grades

By Danielle Thoune, 16, with contributions from Dennis Bao, 9; Charles Coccia, 10; Emma Hohman, 10; and Stephanie Perucco, 14

Learning may be its own reward, but when report card time rolls around, some kids prefer cash. Others would at least like a special dinner or some other reward for their hard work. Families' views on the age-old practice of incentives or rewards for As and Bs are as varied as the grades on some kids' report cards.

Forrest Houghton, 12, of Marquette gets a quarter for every homework assignment he gets an A on. At the end of each semester, he gets a dollar for every A on his report card.

"It kind of makes you work a little harder," Forrest said. "If there's something that you want that your parents aren't going to buy for you, then you can save up the money and you'll work hard to get good grades so you can get the things you want."

Marlene Houghton, Forrest's mom, hopes that the monetary reward motivates her son.

"I would hope that it would be a positive reinforcement for him," she said. "Just like when he's in the work field, for the job he does, he gets a certain amount of money."

The Samppala family of Marquette takes the school/job comparison a step further. Eleven-year-old Emily gets $5 for As and $3 for Bs on her report card. Her mom, Laurie looks on it not as a reward, but rather as compensation for her daughter's work.

"Just like anybody who's got a job and goes to work and performs better, puts more hard work into it would reap the rewards there, so she would do the same in her grades," she said.

Emily says that if she were an adult with kids, she would give them money for good grades.

"It might help them push harder to get better grades," she said.

Her mom has seen a positive impact from the compensation.

"I have seen her work harder and attack her homework more and achieve more because she know if she works hard and puts a little more effort into it she's going to have more money to spend," Samppala said.

Not everyone believes that money is the best, or most appropriate, motivator. Ben Harris, 11, of Marquette does not receive money for good grades. However, his parents, John and Rachel believe that kids should be rewarded in some way.

"I think some kind of recognition for their hard work should definitely be in place, whether it's a special dinner you cook or something to kind of give them a pat on the back and praise for getting good grades," said Rachel Harris.

Ben is OK with his parents' philosophy.

"I think you should get like one little gift for the whole report card or something like that," he said.

"I guess my philosophy is maybe parents know best what will motivate their children, so it's maybe a case-by-case basis," Rachel Harris said.

Jay and Robin Roy of Marquette have never given their kids money for good grades.

"We feel that the performance in school is an expectation of their contribution to the family and themselves, and that it shouldn't be rewarded with money," said Robin Roy.

Roy knows of parents who do use money as an incentive for grades, but she doesn't share their philosophy.

"One of the reasons I don't agree with it is I feel like it penalizes people who may be working hard and get a C, and then there's somebody who can easily get an A. They get an A and didn't work as hard," Roy said. "So it's teaching at an early age that sometimes when you work hard you didn't get rewarded."

Roy's daughter, Emma, 14, feels that sometimes it's appropriate for kids to be rewarded with money.

"If they really, really work hard then I think that they should," she said.

But when asked whether as an adult she would reward her kids with money for good grades, she wasn't so sure.

"It's funny, but I probably wouldn't," she said. "I'd make them work really hard for it just to see the outcome of their report card and see if they got As."

Anna Burnett, 16, of Marquette, puts a lot of effort into her schoolwork and has never received money for her good grades. She believes that even if she did, she wouldn't work any harder.

"I don't think I would because you should just do what you're supposed to without a reward," she said.

Anna's mother, Nancy Irish, hopes that her daughter's drive to do well comes from within.

"I think rewarding children for good grades or for doing their best is not the best idea because it removes the motivation to an external place instead of motivation coming from themselves and their own desire to do well," Irish said. "It comes from the outside, and I don't think that encourages adulthood."

Even though the family doesn't believe in "rewards" for grades, they do occasionally celebrate success in school.

"We don't go out to eat very often, but I think once or twice perhaps we've gone out to eat to celebrate, but that's not quite the same as giving rewards," Irish said.

Irish says that even though rewarding good grades might work for some kids, she can only speak from experience with her own kids. Her kids have always done well in school without expecting rewards.

"For us it's worked out well," she said. "They want to do their best, and it doesn't seem like any external reward changes that for them."