Should Parents Pay Children to Make Better Grades in School?

            Not all children have intrinsic motivation to learn and do well in school. Those who lack the motivation are sometimes given cash rewards by their parents for making better grades in school. Financial incentives can be a good motivator, but using them is controversial. There are pros and cons to doing so.

            Extrinsic motivation for good grades (cash rewards) is a type of incentive or motivator that children can appreciate and understand because it is tangible. Children are able to use earned cash to purchase whatever they want. Parents favoring financial incentives feel that such rewards teach children the value of hard work and achievement.

            There are those who believe that extrinsic motivators, such as cash incentives, can have a negative impact on some children. Not all children learn the same way or at the same speed or level. Those who are against financial incentives for good grades feel that giving or withholding money as coercion for better school performance can put unnecessary pressure on slower children. It can also cause resentment among students and siblings.

            Learn more about the pros and cons of paying children for good grades by reading my Suite 101 article, “Students' Grades: Paying Children to Make Better Grades in School” at http://melissa-ridenour.suite101.com/students-grades-paying-children-to-make-better-grades-in-school-a225089.

            Also of related interest is an article posted on another blog. The post is called, “10 Signs Your Child Needs a Better Tutor than You”. It can be accessed at

http://www.nannypro.com/blog/10-signs-your-child-needs-a-better-tutor-than-you/ .

*Picture credit: Svilen Milev

The Importance of Children Learning First Aid



In addition to keeping children safe at play, at home and in public places, and teaching them to take a pro-active role from potential exploitation or harm, it’s important for parents and teachers to teach children basic first aid. Children need to be able to deal with any situation that arises. There are many types of resources for teaching first aid to children, such as books and on-line resources.

Children need to be taught to remain calm and not panic in emergency situations that may involve the need for first aid. It’s also very important to provide children with emergency contact information. This is something that is also stressed my award-winning child stranger safety book, What Would You Do? A Kid’s Guide to Staying Safe in a World of Strangers.

Parents should also teach their children how to properly stock an adequate first aid kit and demonstrate to them how to use each thing in it. Children should learn to clean and bandage surface wounds and to activate the emergency ice pack to use it to treat sprains or swellings. Children should also learn how to remove splinters with tweezers.

Many of these things can be taught to children by parents and teachers. Children can also learn such things from first aid books written for children. There are also first aid courses available to children, such as those offered through the Red Cross.

To learn more about how children can learn first aid and about resources to teach it to them read my web article, “First Aid Training for Children” at http://melissa-ridenour.suite101.com/first-aid-training-for-children-a307071.

* Picture credit: Ics9