Cash For Grades Cash for grades; does it really make a difference if one earns it for the good of their education or the good of their savings? Giving out cash for grades is a time old controversy. Some argue that it is a nice incentive for students to receive good grades. Others say it just takes away from the glory of receiving a good grade just because it’s a reward within itself. From yes’ to no’s can one honestly prove that giving cash for grades gets a person anywhere in life. What happens with the cash stops flowing?
Sure, the idea of earning money for a grade sound fantastic, but what does it really do for a person. When students earn cash for their good grades, many quickly lose interest in the subject they earned the money for. Once the deed is done there is no longer a need to retain the information. This is an easy way to set your student up for a roller coaster ride of grades. A child performs well in class, earns the good grade and is paid cash for a job well done, this is when a student stops performing at a top-notch level.
After this happens a grade is dropped to a point where a cash reward is no longer in the picture. That is when a student starts working harder in class. Consequently leaving them with the idea that the only reason to earn a good grade is to earn cash. Thus, never instilling the idea that a good grade is a reward within itself. After this crazy ride of good grades, bad grades, it’s time for a student to go off to college. This is when they get hit hard with class work and assignments, but there is no incentive to do well. What happens to students’ grades when this is realized?
Will they still have the integrity to earn a good grade because it’ necessary? College is real life. In real life one doesn’t always get paid to do well. Most people have to work hard just to earn their base salary, without even the slightest notion of receiving a promotion. Being successful starts with earning good grades for the good of your education and future, not to earn a couple extra dollars. One CEO named Frank Hanna said “It wouldn’t make much difference if I were paid to eat and breathe, because I already believe that eating and breathing are in my best interest. What Hanna is saying is that earning good grades is already ones best interest so why get paid for it. Others say that paying students is a great incentive to get them to do well. But most people who believe this either come from families who have the ability to pay their children for things as simple as a few A’s on a report card. Experiments have started in areas where low-income families live, testing to see if their students perform better in class when the idea of a cash reward is put into the picture. In most cases it has shown great progress.
In some cases the cash can really make a difference to ones life in general but what does it do for the children who already have the ability to get what they want. Some say cash for grades keeps the good grades coming, while others say it doesn’t instill good values. Most teachers who approve of the cash for grades would say the cash gets the students to class, but the information and training keeps them there. But in all fairness to anyone who approves of this method, what students learn is much more important than what they earn.
