Rewards for teenagers exam results

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AylesburyDuck wrote: »

Go for it, i'm all for bribary, money motivates for a lot of teens.

Just out of interest, all of you offering financial rewards, what do you suggest if the kid's bright but the parents don't have the money?

Curiosity is a flaw in me, haha!

HBS x

Robisere

I was moderately bright at school, but just messed around. I know I could have passed at least 3 or 4 of the "O" levels then current, but I was an idiot, hung around with other idiots and almost expelled for a stupid prank with a mate. That made me determined to advise my kids, and even more my grandkids. I did get more qualifications later in life, but I used my struggle to do that as a lesson: if I had done this then, I would not have to really struggle to do that later.

I was taking one of my grandchildren out one day, when we saw a down & out guy sleeping in a Library doorway. I chucked a couple of quid into his hat, then pointed to the fact that he was a fairly young man and told my gson (laziest of 4) "That is what can happen if you can't get work. You can lose everything. Get some qualifications behind you." He did: he worked hard and now he has a very good job.

I told them all that if they managed to get this or that, they would get whatever they wanted for Christmas/birthday/whatever. Bribery works, but you have to be sure what they are actually capable of doing. Unreasonable expectations can do more harm than good.

Helen224488

I did this for my son's GCSE's, he is 23 now. He is very bright but was very lazy at school so I offered cash incentives. I know he was predicted high grades so I offered him £35 for each B, £50 for each A and £75 for each A*. He ended up getting mostly A*'s, x3 A's and x1 B. I was totally skint ha ha. My daughter is in Y10 currently, I suppose I will have to do the same for her but with the new GCSE 1-9 grades not sure what I will offer.

sooty&sweep

Hi
My son is year 10 & does most of his GCSES next year. He's already done two.

I always tell him I don't care what grade he gets as long as he does his best. Not all will get A or A* but they shouldn't be made to feel like a failure.

A couple of years ago he didn't do particularly well in an exam & he was really upset with himself because he knew he'd not put the work in & could have done a lot better.
So I do remind him when necessary to remember how he felt then.

Personally however I do think it's a lot to expect a 15 / 16 to fully understand the consequences of not doing their best at GCSES so if you think some sort of financial incentivisation will help then personally I would & I will with my own son.

Jen

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Robisere wrote: »

Unreasonable expectations can do more harm than good.

This is kind of how I see it...

"Jack" and "Jane" are doing their GCSEs. Jack is being paid £50 for each A or B he gets.

Jane's parents can't afford to do that...what happens if Jane then kicks back and doesn't work because her family can't afford to pay her to do so?

Effectively you're paying kids to do their mandatory exams. I think that's a bit mad really...

(Sorry all, I am really in the minority here haha!)

HBS x

Newly_retired

One grandchild is really bright and achieves top grades without any effort. Plenty of low grades for behaviour though!
Another grandchild is bright and able, but has to work hard to achieve. When she was 11, she seemed destined for A grades. Now it is more liklely to be As, B,s and the odd C.
Which one should be rewarded?
(Theoretical, as they will not get a financial reward from us, and it is up to their parents what they decide.)
My parents could not afford to reward me. I was shocked to discover that some of my friends were getting new bikes on passing the 11+ but was not jealous.

silvercar

heartbreak_star wrote: »

This is kind of how I see it...

"Jack" and "Jane" are doing their GCSEs. Jack is being paid £50 for each A or B he gets.

Jane's parents can't afford to do that...what happens if Jane then kicks back and doesn't work because her family can't afford to pay her to do so?

Effectively you're paying kids to do their mandatory exams. I think that's a bit mad really...

(Sorry all, I am really in the minority here haha!)

HBS x

Jane should realise by the age of 16 that some parents can afford to buy better presents than others. If Jane is going to kick back (?) whenever a friend gets more than her, she is going to grow up to be a green eyed monster.

Hopefully Jane realises that money isn't everything and her family support her in lots of ways that don't have pound signs attached.

indsty

I would be interested to know .... if you "bribe" your child and they then do well in their exams, how do they perform at college or university exams. Do they then realise the benefits of hard work and have the self motivation to continue studying or do they still need financial incentives?

silvercar

indsty wrote: »

I would be interested to know .... if you "bribe" your child and they then do well in their exams, how do they perform at college or university exams. Do they then realise the benefits of hard work and have the self motivation to continue studying or do they still need financial incentives?

One of two ways. Either the bribe works and they learn that they can do well if they put their mind to it and continue to do well now that they have learnt [STRIKE]been bribed[/STRIKE] to do so. Or they go off to uni and first year exams show them that they only scrape by unless they put their mind to it and they risk being chucked of the course. Luckily first year exams don't count for the final degree, so they have time to learn the lesson.

Dird

heartbreak_star wrote: »

Just out of interest, all of you offering financial rewards, what do you suggest if the kid's bright but the parents don't have the money?

"In 3 months you'll have some very important exams which can alter the direction your life will go in. If you want a life of comfort and luxury rather than to struggle like me & your dad then make sure you buckle down the next few months. You're a bright boy so if you put the work in you'll get the rewards you deserve"

arbrighton wrote: »

Either way, he needs to learn to motivate himself, an essential skill for adult life

Adults are motivated by performance reviews which dictate their pay rise, essentially £50+1% for an A, £25+1% for a B, 1% for a C