Being a Capitalist Pig, I think it's a good idea.

Kids, (and adults) have a very difficult time understanding why they should be working so hard for a reward that's so far in the future. They need immediate gratification. I can't think of a better way to show a disadvantaged kid the advantages of working hard in school.

What do you think?

Hay

Pay children to go to school, and you teach them that nothing is worth doing unless they get cash compensation.

And these kids will grow up to discover that the real world doesn't work like that. Most jobs do not incent employees for perfect attendance, or compliance to dress code. And many times, top performers are rewarded not with a cash payout, but with a more visible job, that not only pays more salary, but also carries a heavier responsibility.

If we are going to educate our children, we need to focus both on academics and real-world expectations. If the work ethic is not being taught at home, we need to figure out why and fix it where it's broke. Of course this tactic is harder that shelling out $$$.

My folks had six children (darn catholics), they couldn't afford gym shoes...let alone report card money. We were expected to do well without money...

Whatever happened to "A job worth doing is worth doing well"! Whatever happened to doing something because it gives us personal satisfaction, like getting good grades?

Kids today (not all, of course) are lazy, obese, have no discipline, no respect, no self-esteem... and think the world owes them a living! They sit inside, playing computer games, eating fast food, with a cell phone next to them... and where are Mom and Dad?

I got a pat on the back when I got an A in school, and I did chores because I was part of a family, and we all pulled equal weight. I didn't get paid! I had respect for others, especially my elders, I had manners, I knew The Golden Rule...

It's a twisted, messed up world...

Also, I had been receiving good grades without any monetary incentive, so I blew my bargaining position.

I did receive a nominal weekly allowance for garden and house work, and later for cooking and meal preparation, but was expected to save, and pay for my own treats/extras. When I found out in high school that some of my friends' families had maids and gardeners, I also suggested that possibility to my parents. It was not well received. To this day, I still detest gas lawn movers.

just one small example of how my parents were: my senior yr i was getting a B+ in second yr spanish and my parents were furious, only A's allowed. they cancelled my graduation festivities and would not even pay for my cap & gown nor my grad announcements. i worked 30 hrs a week during the semesters/full time in summers (since i was 14) so i could easily afford these things but i had to handle getting them on my own w/o parental assistance. ~ liz

OMG, Mamarazzi, I lurk in that forum and I can't believe that whole discussion!

For those who missed it, since I probably shouldn't include links to the threads, there's a man in another Garden Web forum who mock complains about his teenaged daughter who is too smart for his pocketbook. He complains she keeps getting A's, and therefore he and his wife have to keep buying her Swarovski crystal, including a piece from Grandma that cost almost a thousand dollars. Then he posts photo's of various china displays with all the large crystal that belongs to the daughter. Can you believe that? He had another post where he said she now owned three pairs of Prada shoes and that when she and the wife went to Nordstrom's, the salesman looked at the shoes she was wearing, and ignored everyone but her. Can you imagine what kind of demanding brat this girl is going to be when she's married? Mamarazzi chimed in and kind of got ripped. It made for some amusing reading and I just don't get parents who do this. And then mock complain just so he can show off how much money he has to flush down the toilet. Did anyone else catch those threads?

No strong opinions on paying kids for grades. My folks didn't do it though and neither did DH and I. The difference was that my siblings and I loved getting good grades, and nothing I did could make my kids care about doing more than just average.

Which is exactly what I told my children...and as far as children being paid for chores, not in my neighborhood .. the kids play nintendo (or whatever it is the new game is now) and the parents pay someone else to plow out the driveway in winter and cut the grass in summer.

My children did not get paid for chores either ... this is the way I saw it. We all live in this home, it is the responsibility of everyone who lives here to do their part. Don't like it ? As Daddy used to say "don't let the doorknob hit ya where the good lord split ya".

Yeah .. I was known as the meanest mommy on the block. I also do not have to support my grown children :) (and yes, I know parents who do)

My middle son will graduate college next year, and he did it all himself... 4.0 GPA, scholarships, grants, money from jobs, student loans... and he's already signed a contract that will net him a hefty income when he graduates. I'm incredibly proud of him!

He didn't get paid for chores or grades... he just knew that if he wanted a better life than the one we could provide, he had to work for it. My other 2 children are part of the work force, but they have families, and are happy... and isn't that what we want for our kids, anyway?

We can only point them in the right direction... we can't make them go... so, why aren't more parents pointing their children in the direction of success and happiness?

My parents didn't support me as an adult, and I'm not supporting my kids... although, I will always be here should they stumble and fall.

Kids today... many of them... can't feed themselves, clean up after themselves, support themselves... if we do it all for them, where's the incentive to learn and earn?

I remember spending a couple of weeks every summer with my sisters when we were teens in the big push to get all the football programs ready. Dad would go out a take pictures of the teams, cheerleaders, and band at each school would gather their own advertisements which my dad then put together. He printed them with one of those old-fashioned linotype machines using lead type which worked only with much cursing from my dad. We had to fold the sheets into pages, insert them into each other to make a booklet, staple them, trim them, and deliver boxes of them to each of the high schools. In exchange I got a bed to sleep in and three meals a day - for anything extra I had to ask my dad. At 15, I got my first job bagging groceries so I would have money for dates without having to ask my parents. I've worked since then through high school, college, and grad school.