Rewards for teenagers exam results

FBaby

No offense but I am shocked with the amount some are offering mainly because it does not reflect the amount they would get in a job for the hours of the exams.

Rewarding with a bonus is fine but such an amount that almost equates that of a salary is in my view giving a very wrong message.

It's no surprise so many graduates hold their noses up at entry level salaries if they have been used to such high rewards for really doing what they should have done in the first place.

I gave DD £100. She got 7 As, 2A*s and 2 Bs. She got it as a reward not an incentive and she was very grateful as she wasn't expecting anything. Same as being grateful for the babysitting money she gets.

AylesburyDuck

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?

Curiosity is a flaw in me, haha!

HBS x

If money were a problem then i'd be going the extra mile in other areas for them, extended curfews maybe, extra lifts, generally being more generous in other areas.

athensgeorgia

I find this whole topic interesting.

DD1 has always been capable but worked extremely hard in her GCSE's. Told me one of her friends was getting awarded different monetary amounts for each grade and would we do something similar. Explained I would love to but really couldn't afford it. She studied extremely hard and ended up with fantastic results all A's and A*'s.

DD2 is in Year 11 and just about to do her GCSE's. Again has always been capable even more so than DD1. She's on the gifted and talented register and gets chosen for everything. Her predicted grades are all A's and A*'s or 8's in the new levels. She's just done mock exams and didn't perform as well as expected. She's extremely lazy when it comes to revising and is the sort of child who would do better with a financial incentive. On principal and because funds are lacking I can't offer it. DD1 didn't get it and is successful on her own merit.

DD2's argument "I do STEM club, Duke of Edinburgh, School Council, higher project (another qualification in itself), volunteering and babysit most weekends, I don't have time to revise like DD1 did". The grades she achieves without revising aren't poor and I know there are some students who work really hard and would love to do that well but we know she can do better if she tried.

TBagpuss

I am not a fan of bribing childre for exam results but if you decide to do it I would try to link it to effort. So if his teacher has predicted a C but feels he could get a B if he worked, then tell him he gets aomething for a B or above
If, in another sbject, he is predicted a B but could get an A if he purts in more work, then offer him something for an A only, and so on.

Alternatively, you could let him know that you won't pay for grades but that you will buy him something / ofer some other reward whn he finishes his exams if at that time you feel he has been making the effort. That way, he gets a boost while e is in the stressful period waiting for results, and you are basing it on how he has behaved and worked over the months elading up to the point, rather than on a single 3 hour exam.