school rewards system

[Oakmaiden]

So my daughter has just started secondary school, and her school use a reward system called VivoEdge. Basically you are given points for doing well, and you can redeem those points to buy things or get vouchers for the local leisure centre or whatever.

Now, leaving aside my distaste for over doing extrinsic rewards, I am concerned that when she signs into her Vivo account the first thing that comes up is "Enter this competition to get this reward - all you need to do it like this picture on Facebook and put in your answer". She is 11. I don't feel that this is encouraging children who are not yet old enough to use these types of social media to act responsibly.

Would I be really unreasonable to point out to the school that they are, effectively , encouraging children to use social media that some of them are too young for? Or should I just mind my own business?

[AlpacaLypse]

Is the official cut off age for FB still 12?

In which case yanbu, the rules are there and the last thing we need is for schools to be encouraging children to break them.

[multivac]

YANBU. You need to be 13 to have a FB account.

[BrendaandEddie]

with any parental complaint, I always think you need to think' is this the most serious thing I might mention this year?' and then adjust accordingly

If you have only just started the year I would keep your powder dry and chat to the head 1-1 at an open evening or whatever

Otherwise you just moan about everything

[miaowroar]

Are you sure she will be invited/encouraged to enter competitions? At my last school, we used Vivos (don't remember it being called VivoEdge though, so it might be different) and this did not happen. They were just given vivos and then they could use them to "buy" stuff like stationery, stickers, little headphones - oh all sorts of bits and pieces kids like.

[Annunziata]

I agree with Brenda, it is a silly thing to make a fuss over.

[Oakmaiden]

Yeah, you have to be 13. Which means none of the Year 7 students and only some of the Year 8 students should have access to FB. I have no problem with being the Mum who doesn't let her children do something "all the others" do - my eldest son's class once won a free trip to go to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 in year 4 (so he was about 9) and he was the only child who wasn't allowed to go. But I do accept that she will feel it is - and it IS - unfair.

But at the same time she has been at school 3 weeks and I am going to be "that Mum" already if I go in complaining...

Ho hum...

[BrendaandEddie]

definitely leave it.
Isnt FB a guideline - not like LAW.....

anyway Fb is all middle ages women, the kids are on instagram etc

[lljkk]

What Brenda&E said was good.

[Oakmaiden]

miaowroar - there is a website that they can log into to see how many points they have and to spend their points. When we logged into it, the competition was the first thing to come up. The prize was free stationary - she loves a good notebook and pen :D

I suspect it is not a big part of the scheme, and the school have probably overlooked its existence. And I am not sure what outcome would be possible - I wouldn't want them to abandon their reward scheme on my say so - but I guess ?I would have expected them to have checked it out, really...

[Oakmaiden]

B&E - I probably will leave it - but it is not the point that it is not "the law". The point is that the age restrictions are there for fairly good reasons, and the software the school is using is encouraging children to lie and sign up to FB etc when they are really too young. I don't think it is very responsible, really...

[Oakmaiden]

er - stationery...

[Annunziata]

Really, you are needing to calm down. It is not a big problem. There will be far more important things to worry about.

[BrendaandEddie]

social media HAS to be up to the parents to a degree

Schools cannot change everything

[BrendaandEddie]

OP - if you dont think they will bin it. then whats the point?

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

13 to join Facebook. I thought it was 16, but then I know nowt about it really, not on it. No wild ideas about joining anyway. I'm actually a very private person IRL.
Sorry for babbling on there op. YDNBU.

[Oakmaiden]

Annunziata - didn't realise I wasn't calm. I hate to think what you might think if you saw me really get my knickers in a twist over something!

B&E - I don't know. I guess that was why I was posting, really. It made me a bit uncomfortable, and I couldn't decide whether or not I was being unreasonable to feel that way. Or whether I should point it out to anyone...

And then after posting I wondered what I would want the outcome to be if I did mention it to the school...

I dunno.

[Annunziata]

One of the things about having teenagers these days is trying to balance things up.

It is better to have FB or instagram that you know about and can get into than going mad about it and your child setting one up behind your back. And the same sort of thing will happen when they are 16/17 and going to parties with alcohol.

[catfordbetty]

Your concerns about the FB link are entirely valid. Please do share them with the headteacher. FWIW, as a teacher, I share your other reservations about Vivo too. In my last school I refused to award any Vivo points ... which might explain why I'm not there now!

[ArcheryAnnie]

Does any school actually bother implementing the vivos, though? My DS's school does it, but everyone forgot about it a few months in.

[pointythings]

I think the Facebook thing is a bit off, but it is up to parents - DD2 can't wait to be 13 and get Facebook and I made DD1 wait too. It isn't massively helpful of the school to undermine this, though I suspect is't just incompetence because they wanted a 'system' rather than having to do any hard work tracking points...

Our school does have a points system and they do track it - DD1 earned herself an iPod Nano in less than 2 years. The system offers rewards for effort, attitude and achievement, so there are possibilities for everyone - for example, DD1 got points for helping a fellow pupil look for her lost stuff, which some little shit had hidden hoping to get her into trouble. Compassion, helpfulness and hard work are rewarded as much if not more than grades, which is a good thing.

[catfordbetty]

Rewarding children with material objects for effort, compassion or attainment simply serves to monetize virtue. We shouldn't do it.

[BackforGood]

I would say something.
It doesn't have to be in an angry way - more of a "Are you aware that when you log in........ can't sign up to a FB a/c until you are 13..... discrepancies....." type way.

This is where Parent Forums can be SOOOOOOOOOOOO useful - you can mention things without it being 'a complaint'.

[Mistigri]

It's not appropriate - I would ask the school to consider restricting the rewards system to years 9 and above, where all the children will be over 13 and therefore eligible for a FB account.

(I think the age 13 limit on FB is dumb - especially as the limit has been changed in some countries, and it's so easy to get around - but the fact remains that there is a limit, and the school should not be condoning FB usage for younger pupils).

[InimitableJeeves]

I'd suggest having a word with a parent governor or the class rep on the PTA, if there is one.

[Spartans]

I would say something if I felt strongly about it. I don't really care about being one of 'those' parents.

We have had several meetings at the school already (dd is year 7) about curriculum and one about Internet saftey. Whey actually pointed out the minimum age for fb and suggested we stick to it. So I wouldn't feel that by questioning this I would be considered a pain.

From my point of view though I would assume it's there for older kids and they can't opt out so, as a parent, it's my job to tell dd no until she is older.

I can't find it in me to get excited or annoyed at this type of reward system in general. I know dd (usually) behaves and is nice to other kids and teachers regardless of how many points or 'praising Stars' she gets.