Bribing children to get good GCSE grades -- why would anyone do this?

[frogs]

I read this in the Sunday Times and it's still niggling away at me.

Why would these parents think it's a good idea to pay their children per GCSE grade A/A*? Surely if by the age of 15 the child hasn't worked out that it's in his/her own interest to get the best grades they are capable of, then something has gone a bit wrong? And if they do work hard and it all goes hideously wrong for some reason, then they're going to need serious tea and sympathy, not a cut in allowance.

People in London do this for 11+ seelctive secondary entry as well, which is possibly even worse -- one of dd1's acquaintainces from swimming was promised £100 if she got into school A or £50 if she got into school B.

Is it just me, or is this barking?

i bribe mine
ds1 has been bribed that if he gets a* he gets a ps3!

And actually, while I'd love for all my children to do super well at GCSEs and A levels - it's not necessarily realistic is it? Plus, is it really the be all and end all either?

I have 2 brothers and we are all completely different - I was academic and found exams pretty easy, db1 is an artist so not great on the 'academia' but very talented, db2 is very bright, great social skills but could not be arsed at school. Despite me coming out with all the academic qualifications, db1 going to art school (but not getting As and Bs in other exams) and db3 spending his teens and early 20s gonig out and getting pissed we are all now in our 30s and each one of us doing well in our different areas.

Likewise - dh is like db2 - bright, sociable and 'charming' (), crappola exams, hardly any qualifications but in a job where being bright and sociable is far more important than a degree and he earns way more than the average bear (and more than most of his office). So, there you go.

No payment for my children!

Frogs - to answer your point on wanting to reward achievement not talent, can you find out from the school what your childs predicted grades are? Then you could reward for equalling or exceeding those.

DD's teachers were mostly fairly specific about what they thought she should get, except for the history teacher, who wouldn't go closer that A-C (she got an A*)
DD is on a reward scheme for her AS levels which she devised herself, which involves me buying her weekend ticket for the Readng Festival & she pays me back a proportion for any module for which she doesn't get her predicted grade.
Sometimes lack of motivation can be linked to depression, not just laziness & it does seem to help for her to have something concrete to look forward to.

I don't know how I will feel when my son is 15/16. However I think that bribary at A-level is very wrong. Education beyond 16 isn't yet complusory, although I know that there are plans to make it so.

At what point should children be given the responsibility to do decide to work? Its one thing to use a star chart/ rewards with a small child, but surely at 18 children are responsible for their own destiny.

I have to admit that I sit with my five year old son and help him with his homework as there is no way that he could do it independently.

I want my son to know that he is loved unconditionally whether he gets 10A* or no qualifications. My worry is that children who are put under such horrendous pressure to pass exams might commit suicide if they fail. Some parents really need to get a grip and realise that failing exams is not the end of the world.

I was never financially rewarded for what I acheieved at school and nowadays I'd rather do a job I like and not be paid than do a job I hate for loads of money. May or may not be related.

But in the real world some people do get more financial reward for putting in extra effort and achieving/exceeding their targets (call centres, salespeople, traders both in high finance and on a market stall, etc)

I've told DD she can have a pony if she passes her Grade 8 in violin by the time she is 14. She won't - I know it and she knows it and it's become our family joke tbh. She hasn't picked up the violin for weeks so it's hardly motivated her, has it?

achieved even!!

I got a quarter pound of lemon sherberts and a magazine for passing my 11+. It didn't spoil me!

My DD is perfectly aware that we love her no matter what happens - she just doesn't see why she shouldn't be rewarded for hard work - and nor do I. But we've never been a family where money = love anyway.

I might reward with reference to predicted grades - predicted by the teacher, NOT some ludicrous computer processing KS2 achievement, how many books we have & what their grandad did for a living.

If you want to do this it should be straightforward - kids in state schools are ruddy bombarded with MQ targets (median quartile: average attainment given OK teaching & reasonable effort) & UQ targets (upper quartile: working one's arse off with an ace teacher). £50 per UQ target?

Actually, from the teacher side of the fence - I've promised my 15 year 11s, set 6 out of a possible 7, a £5 for any of them who get a C. I reckon it's going to cost me £10. If it costs me £75 I'll be thrilled!

My dd is very bright but can be accused (and is) of coasting. I offered her so much per exceeding her target and deducted for not acheiving target. Nothing for actually achieving her target as that was expected !

She has done some mock year 9 SATS and for maths especially it determines which exam they will sit. She has, with a little incentive, managed to secure her place in level 7-8 grouping having gone up to 7b from 6b in the recent tests - At 6b her teacher said she is capable of so much more, so if £10 has helped achieve that then I for one am pleased.

Surely its no worse than giving a dog a biscuit when it sits at teh kerb ?

Being in set 5 can't do children's confidence the world of good. It must be depressing to be in a low set. Bribary in that sort of situation is different than bribing an A-level student.

However for more able children, who are not in complusory education the reward of doing well is having more options for further education/ training/ employment. I got good results at school and it has made me far more employable than I would be otherwise. It is a greater financial reward than the odd £100 for an A grade.

I think its barking.

one of my schoolfriends was bribed per O level, guess what she did the worst of any of us. It wouldnt have made any difference to me.

Message withdrawn

I was bribed at every stage as a child - primary school reports, 11+, and on a sliding scale for GCSEs. It was all completely unnecessary as I was a serious swot and would have worked my socks off even if I'd had to pay my parents for each A rather than them paying me.
Didn't tell them that at the time though....

DH's parents, on the other hand, gave him a present after the exams and before the results as a way of saying they were proud of him for working hard regardless of what results he got.

I think I like that route better than my parents.

sorry, "parents'" not "parents"

We don't reward our childen by grade, but do give them something for doing thier best and trying hard. Last year I took dd2 to London to see Les Miserables for all the hard work she did for her GCSE's ( well she did work hard in the end).he didn't get any A's but that didn't matter as she did do her best.
I think it is unfair and puts to much pressure on moneyfor each grade. Some children will try realy hard and only come out with a C. Some children are just not academic.

DS1 (who knew no other letter than A for exam results) - gave him some money to celebrate with his mates on A Level results day.We went out for a family meal at the tandoori when he had recovered. DS2 is working his socks off to get Bs at GCSE. He is going on a rugby tour to Canada but that is not conditional on him getting specific grades, but because he needs something to look forward to after working so hard at academic work that isn't so easy for him. We may splash out on a repeat trip to the tandoori too.

I guess 'reward for effort' rather than actual achievement is the way to go- except do we really know how much effort the kids are putting in? The teacher-predicted grade is probably a more accurate measure as they see the kids work, day in, day out, whereas we only see, to a large extent with teenagers, what they want us to see! I personally am against bribery, particularly beyond a certain stage of maturity as I feel it DOES place a material value on a child. For young kids, I don't think "Finish your homework properly then we'll go to the park" is damaging but pounds per grade can be. Surely rewarding the 'A' grade student who gets the predicted 'A' would be akin to rewarding a child for having blue eyes?

Not necessarily miljee, because the fact that the teachers have predicted an A may well be the result of hard work.

Never, children of that age have got to learn to do things for themselves or else they will expect reward constantly throughout their lives which unrealistic in the current climate where many jobs offer reward for long-term service and not for performance.

I hope my oldest 3 who are at university now work hard because of what they want to achieve in life and getting a good job, not because of bribery but we did have an agreed scale fee for GCSE and A level grades. I don't think it has massive material effect and it certainly wasn't expensive. Some parents do and some don't - just do what feels right for your own teenagers at the time. Getting a bike for passing the 11+ was the classic reward in the old days.

They also get £500 if they get to 21 without smoking.

I think you have to do what is right for your children, and what will help motivate them. Many boys particularly are motivated to work harder and therefore achieve more highly if there is an element of competition, and reward. Obviously the 'reward' of a high grade should be enough, but in our PC-world, the grades these days are hardly publicised let alone celebrated.

Anyway, my ds1 I would expect would work hard and achieve highly, as long as he is happy in the setting. But ds2 is altogether another character and frequently needs a competitive element adding to a task in order to spur him along.

This morning we literally had the screaming hab dabs (he's almost 8!) refusing to go to swimming lessons, because he hated them, it was all my fault, etc. etc. In the end I realised the problem was he was disappointed that in himself that he had not progressed enough to move up a class this year. But when we finally got there it turned up he had been promoted up to the next class; and he came out extremely enthusiastic about swimming, wanting to do lots of extra swimming for fun, and wanting to do lessons for ever so that he can learn to swim as well as ds1.

I don't think it is 'barking'. Its all about incentives. We all need those to motivate us, or we would not be driven to do anything. Children are no different.

I don't see anything wrong with rewarding children who produce good grades. After all their grades will dictate the rest of their lives so it is a very worthwhile cause if it gets them to work.

(Ideally they should not need to be bribed but unfortunately life is not that black and white)

Not read whole thread but when I took my GCSE's in 1990 my dad told me I would get £10 for each A and £5 for a B. Nothing for a C. I didn't think about it at the time but my Mum (a teacher) definately disapproved. (My parents were divorced btw). I did well and my dad paid up. My incentive for my A-levels was to get into Uni.
My Mum took the TV out of my room leading up to my GCSE's and stopped me going out more than once a week. For A-levels she left the TV a bit longer but still restricted me to going out once a week (not hard as I didn't drive and we lived in the sticks). I still went out to work my weekend jobs both times though. I hated her at times for not letting me out but I think it def had some impact as I got good grades.
For what it is worth I did not realise the impact of my GCSE's at 15. I was doing them to stay on for 6th form not much more. I did realise what my A-levels were worth.
Goodness knows what I will do with mine. They are only 4 and 2 and haven't yet started school. I am dreading it already. This is a really interesting thread though.