Is it right for parents to pay students for receiving good grades in school?

While the majority of teachers report that they feel it is right for parents to pay students for good grades, the difference between the "yes" and "no" votes was not significant. There are probably people on both sides of this issue who feel quite strongly that their viewpoint is correct. There are probably teachers who voted their preference but aren't really bothered either way.

The debate over payment for grades rages between students and parents as well. Many students who routinely receive good grades lament the fact that they don't receive payment while their less academic friends do. Some parents pay a huge amount of money out at report card time. Let's say a family has three children, two in secondary and one in elementary school and between them they receive ten A's, eight B's and two C's. Parents often pay twenty dollars or more for each A grade so for arguments sake, we'll set a pay scale at $20, $15 and $10. Those parents would be paying out $340 each report card period, or a total of $1,340 per year! With a rise in consumer debt it's hard to believe that families have that kind of extra money every year.

The argument in favour of payment is often that students need the incentive to achieve and receiving reimbursement for their efforts is much like being in the work place. That is certainly one way to look at things. On the other hand, some parents believe that their children should strive to achieve simply because they are capable of doing so. Their compensation comes in the form of free housing, clothes and food.

Parents debate all aspects of child rearing, from discipline to the best age to potty train. It is, therefore, not surprising that there are two schools of thought with regard to payment for grades. Some parents will remain adamantly opposed to the idea, while others will agree with it and may even take it a step further. Parents often pay their children to achieve in other aspects of life as well as school. Children receive payment for scoring goals in sports or completing chores at home. It's unlikely that the opposing viewpoints on this idea will meet in the middle anytime soon.