Town full of mouth-breathers, apparently. "I'll study, but only if you pay me."

This is an excellent learning opportunity for these kids before they head out into the workforce: you will frequently be screwed out of the incentives you were promised - now STFU and GBTW.

I am educator who has seen this attempted on more than one occasion. The idea of stipends for grades never works, ever.
Learning requires commitment to learn and work ethic and while pay may inspire work it won't produce the commitment.

aimtastic: This is an excellent learning opportunity for these kids before they head out into the workforce: you will frequently be screwed out of the incentives you were promised - now STFU and GBTW.

I'd call you the winner of this thread, but I'd have to take it back six months later.

Stupid people will sue because they are being discriminated against?

In America this would create a lawsuit on an epic scale. Since it happened in the UK they will just whine a lot and say "Tsk tsk, bad form ol' chap".

Boo farking hoo...

Call the whaaaaaamublance

Welcome to reality kids.

More than likely, it was the students who told each other they would be eligible for this prize since the school didn't send them a letter like they had for the ones who actually were eligible.

My bet is that those that didn't get money (because of poor grades) sued.

DarthBrooks: Town full of mouth-breathers, apparently. "I'll study, but only if you pay me."

actually they're trying this a few places in america as well.

i think it was the superintendent from new york who i heard asked about it. his response was basically "i don't know if this will work, but what i do know is that the current system doesn't work, so we have to try something new."

From the comments:
I was a student at the school last year.

We actually wanted to get good grades so before you start any assumptions about us only wanting to get good grades for money...don't.

Most of the students at the school wanted to do well, but we were told several times we would recive a cash prize.

What's your point, then? You wanted to get good grades and then you did. If you weren't really doing it for the money then you shouldn't care when you don't get it.

Walker: In America this would create a lawsuit on an epic scale. Since it happened in the UK they will just whine a lot and say "Tsk tsk, bad form ol' chap".

probably would have been a lawsuit in America even if they paid out. "My Billy didn't get the grades but should still get the money because he has (some kind of half-assed learning disability).

The guy in TFA looks like something out of a David Firth cartoon.

He fixes the cable?
/don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.

The concept was stupid to begin with. If kids need "incentives" to get good grades then you're doing it wrong.

/Besides, a "C" is not good enough, luser

I'm disappointed. I figured what would happen next is the guys would try to trade sex with hot 24 year old teachers to get good grades, and then use the funds made to go get alcohol and then later drunkenly blab about their experiences. Causing the scheme to be shut down due to being unfair to girls.

DarthBrooks: Town full of mouth-breathers, apparently. "I'll study, work but only if you pay me."

When you are a child going to school is your job. Maybe not your only job but it is still your job. Now if your employer stopped paying you would you show up to work? How about if your boss tell you that you should work hard, do all the "homework" he assigns, show up on time and stay there all day and do everything else tells you and in 12 years if you were a good little employee and you were working at good company (read:good school) then you will be richly rewarded. Would you show up?
I understand that learning should be a joy and reward in and of itself, but that is hard to make a 12 year old feel that way. As a father of a small child I have give this topic some thought. I would hope that as a parent I can teach my child that learning is not only fun but rewarding.

Since it is in England, the English in the article is appalling.

dogdaze: I am educator who has seen this attempted on more than one occasion. The idea of stipends for grades never works, ever.
Learning requires commitment to learn and work ethic and while pay may inspire work it won't produce the commitment.

Appropriate.

The students got a quality education which will serve them for far longer than 100 pounds will. Come to think of it, not giving them the money was a quality education in itself. Trust no one.

ahhh drat. the schoolboard withdrew the scheme without telling the kids.

Bloody Yobs.

if you get a grade lower than "C" in any gradeschool class you deserve to have a hundred quid taken away from you.
know what worked for me? A=no belt


/i walked up hill etc etc
//grumble grumble

Downtown Dave: I would demand my grades back!

This is the winningest post I've evar seen.

burndtdan: "i don't know if this will work, but what i do know is that the current system doesn't work, so we have to try something new."

And he's gotta valid point there. It's too bad more segments of government don't try thinking that way.

burndtdan:
actually they're trying this a few places in america as well.

i think it was the superintendent from new york who i heard asked about it. his response was basically "i don't know if this will work, but what i do know is that the current system doesn't work, so we have to try something new."

This is nothing new. My last two years of elementary school in the Knoxville area in the late 80's had a similar setup. $25 for perfect attendance, $25 for straight A's. $50 was a lot of money to a kid back then :)

/ Got $50
// Was a nerd
/// Was smarter than some of the teachers there

Well, good grades are always about money. As schools are so fond of saying. If you don't get good grades in school you'll get a crap job and get less pay then others. I think every school should do this; it may just be the key to the future.

Well let me just say

Welcome to the real world, kids!

C and above? Are you kidding me? I was picturing straight A's!

Matthew Broderick, who knew where the school system's passwords are written down, dialed into the system and changed lots of grades?

Whoopty Whoo The Precious Bongo Boy: Amazing. Here you have a school imitating life in adult society. The under-unprivileged children receive less attention, poorer supplies, less help from parents and teachers, and therefor get poorer grades. So, the economically disadvantaged students will get to sit back and watch the rich kids get richer while they receive nothing. That is not the kind of lesson I want children learning.

you don't want the kids prepared for the arsefarking they will receive as adults?

I love the smell of disappointed schoolchildren in the morning.

Smells like schadenfreude.

That isn't what I thought happened next. What I thought was this....

The parents of a kid too stupid to get paid break into the school admin offices and steal a huge chunk of money. They didn't think their cunning plan through (because they are stupid) and get locked in the offices for the weekend. The fat mother gets hungry around Saturday night and kills the hubby and starts eating him. While she's cooking her SO up, she sets off the fire alarm and the firemen come rescue her. She goes to prison, hubby is dead, and now little Timmy is a ward of the state receiving a low level education and repeating the process.

\Or something

Pathman: if you get a grade lower than "C" in any gradeschool class you deserve to have a hundred quid taken away from you.
know what worked for me? A=no belt

/i walked up hill etc etc
//grumble grumble

I'm not so old, but my parents had a lot of kids over a long stretch, so they were pretty damn conservative compared to the yuppie scum that populated my school district. Plenty of kids (not me) with mediocre grades (not me) were paid handsomely for their marks. Positive reinforcement is supposed to work, but my parents relied on negative punishment instead: You get A's, I take away the inevitable ass-chewing for every B+ or below. It didn't help that my little sis was even more of a bookworm and rocked the straight-A's constantly, which made even a 3.9 look shabby.

I came out of high school with a full ride to college, most of those "pay for grades" kids are waiting tables and doing similar rewarding jobs. My sis is a PhD and now working on her DVM.

The kids in the story that did better, regardless of their motivation, will be repaid many times over. If there is one indelible thing in life, it is your grades in school. Yeah, they can be glossed over with luck in the business world, but it is even better to start off with opportunities.

Scoth: This is nothing new. My last two years of elementary school in the Knoxville area in the late 80's had a similar setup. $25 for perfect attendance, $25 for straight A's. $50 was a lot of money to a kid back then :)

You go to hell. You go to hell and die! I had perfect attendance courtesy of bad timing (getting sick in the summer and Christmas break) and bad luck (an experienced mom that was an RN) throughout middle and high schools. I did get a dandy certificate once or twice, but man, I could have had pop rocks and Sega games all over the place!

Pro Zack, you're by no means new around here. WTF are you doing?

Wow paying 100pds for a C, for being average.

Man!

I would have so raked in the cash on that dealio :P

When I was in h.s., we had a program called "Renaissance": the district and community businesses would chip in to reward academic achievement on tiers. No cash (if I remember) but coupons and other swag. They'd also reimburse a students' SAT and ACT costs over certain scores.


//National Principal of the Year ('95)

I never got paid for grades in high school. It was just assumed that I'd do my best.

Which is odd, because when I went to college, my first couple years my parents would pay $50 for each A I got. When my grades came in, they'd have to remind me they were giving me money. It was actually kind of awkward, because it felt so artificial. It's like paying someone for doing something they like already. You don't feel like you deserve it.

Not sure why they did that. Probably to feel like they were still involved in the motivation since I was away from home, but I honestly never really felt any pressure to get good grades in my life. They just came or they didn't. Always did well enough.

Whoopty Whoo The Precious Bongo Boy: Amazing. Here you have a school imitating life in adult society. The under-unprivileged children receive less attention, poorer supplies, less help from parents and teachers, and therefor get poorer grades. So, the economically disadvantaged students will get to sit back and watch the rich kids get richer while they receive nothing. That is not the kind of lesson I want children learning.

Welcome to life. The support group meets at the bar.

Whoopty Whoo The Precious Bongo Boy: I don't want children learning that the weak receive nothing in life, and that competition drives everything.

That's a nice thought. But then they will have nothing but disappointment, pain and sorrow. No matter how one feels about reality, it is critical for a child's success that they have a clear grasp of that reality. Children can handle a lot more than people give them credit for.

aimtastic: This is an excellent learning opportunity for these kids before they head out into the workforce: you will frequently be screwed out of the incentives you were promised - now STFU and GBTW.

I concur. This has happened to me several times at my current job.
Made the grade, so to speak, each time, with a very big safety margin. It was a sell, sell, sell approach that paid off.
I feel like I paid for a car but got a box of steak knives.
Strangely, the top management people, still get their performance bonuses... each year so far.
I hope someone points out the issue to them.

If this shows anything, it's not that the Education system sucks (we all know it does). The problem is this generation's teenagers are nothing but a bunch of lazy, XBox addicted punks who's parents mollycoddle the hell out of them, and don't do much of anything to push them to get off their duffs and do something. If they try at all, they often give up because "that kid is impossible."

They have no work ethic.

Sadly, this article isn't a surprise. I guess it isn't just some people's kids, it's most people's kids...

After the fark headline said, "you can guess what happened next", I guessed that the entire school was caught cheating on their tests. Apparently I was wrong.

If you want to get school children to give a damn, take them to a college campus for a day. UD is known for having a smokin' hot student body. They bus ghetto kids from Wilmington over here and more or less tell them "these chicks don't fark losers."

Sometimes, it actually works.

Whoopty Whoo The Precious Bongo Boy: Amazing. Here you have a school imitating life in adult society. The under-unprivileged children receive less attention, poorer supplies, less help from parents and teachers, and therefor get poorer grades. So, the economically disadvantaged students will get to sit back and watch the rich kids get richer while they receive nothing. That is not the kind of lesson I want children learning.

You... you're serious, aren't you. That's... very, very sad.

They would have just spent it on hookers and blow anyway.

Whoopty Whoo The Precious Bongo Boy: No, welcome to life as it is when controlled by the greedy. Perhaps if those who are in charge would listen to the voices of the people, things would change.

But life is controlled by the greedy who are in charge. If you wanna start the revolution, I've got pitchforks and torches ready.

Whoopty Whoo The Precious Bongo Boy: While I know many feel children have no rights, the truth is, they do.

I think you are confusing what should be with what is.

in truth, kids have very few rights. they SHOULD have the same rights as adults, but they don't. just like society SHOULD care for you and keep you from harm, but in truth, it does not.

Whoopty Whoo The Precious Bongo Boy: Hypocritic_Oath: But life is controlled by the greedy who are in charge. If you wanna start the revolution, I've got pitchforks and torches ready.

Sadly, you are right. Common sense and kindness take a back seat to greed and the urge to control. And this will nto change as long as the old fat white men are in charge.

Hey! Who are you calling fat?