Should teachers.......

[babar]

I guess I don't understand. Are these rewards given out for special things, like doing some extra work, or bringing a grade up, or maybe helping out another student? If that's the case, then that's fine.

But if it's for, hey you didn't act out today, here's some candy, I disagree with that. That child isn't doing anything out of the ordinary by be being well behaved. He/she is doing what they are supposed to do, or what is expected of them. Why would that be rewarded?

 

[disykat]

From the last two responses, I think many of us actually agree. In my particular case my children really do get candy every day and that really bothers me. (Maybe my kids are just particularly good - yeah, that must be it! LOL)

While I am not against occasional treats, I do think teachers and schools do need to be setting positive examples by limiting "bribery" and role modeling good nutritian habits.

 

[shortbun]

At Ds's school, they have a student bookstore. It
is stocked by donations from families and children's
bookstores with out of print or slightly damaged books.
Kids earn $ for the bookstore as incentives. They love
it. Ds's school doesn't have much homework until 3rd
grade. By the time they get to third, homework is a
badge of honor and shows they are grown up-weird,eh?
There are no candy incentives. Occasionally, a class
is rewarded with an in-room pizza lunch or a special
class(extra dance, drumming,field trip). I've seen no
food incentives other than the pizza although I've heard
that the peak(disciplinary) teacher has candy in his
room. It's rare that kids get sent to peak-usually the
really young K and 1st graders for fighting. Sugar is
such a trigger for manic behavior that I can't imagine
why teachers would routinely pass it out. Ohwell, I'm
getting used to being in the minority about behavior
issues.
mimi

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I say whatever works.
At dd's middle school they have the 100% "club". If you turn in assignments on time every week you get to participate in pizza parties & get out of class.

I like the idea of having positive, fun stuff in school. Some of the kids really need it. School is very stressful for some and it helps both the teacher and student.

 

[SilverLily]

Behind the scenes? LOL Thats a good one.

You know, parents who do not respect the hard work a teacher does (and who pass this attitude on to their children), who criticize every decision a teacher makes about running the classroom (and pass this attitude on to their children) do more to harm their children's education than the parents who allow the junk food reward.

 

[dizneegirl]

Originally posted by Cinders
Ummmm why should I supply another reward? This system is not needed in the first place.....discipline is needed. I have alternatives.......giving incompletes, time outs, extra reports, in school suspensions, restricted lunches. Teachers using money for education is fine.....using it to buy junkfood to bribe kids to be good is insane.

Do you give your child a piece of candy every time they do something good?

I don't agree that candy is necessarily the best reward. Nor do I agree that they should get something tangible right then and there for every "good" little thing they do... but honestly... you have to have more than negative reinforcements.

Kids SHOULD learn discipline, but that is something that's usually taught at HOME. And, unfortunately, I don't think there's a lot of that going on these days... Even at home though, you can't raise a child using strictly negative reinforcements... that doesn't teach, it causes resentment and lack of confidence.

I think the idea of a points reward system isn't a bad deal at all. So many points at the end of the month, quarter, semester, whatever, and you get to pick from this set of "prizes". That can make school and little more fun than it may ordinarily be. That's not a bad thing.

If it's the junk food that you object to, put your foot down about it. No candy, no soda, no food for your son. If he's disciplined, and you tell him no, he won't choose it, will he?

Daily rewards I don't agree with, but I honestly don't see anything wrong with the point reward system.

 

[bfeller]

Realistically, I have not experienced a teacher that gives out awards on a daily basis. If they are given out at that rate then they would lose their effectiveness. I honestly believe that most reward systems are given in timely intervals.

As I have mentioned in other posts on this thread, I do believe that a teacher(educator) should be able to use whatever it takes to make learning successful. A teacher has a mix of students and it doesn't take many to disrupt the learning process. Many parents are supportive but there are those who are not. Hopefully, Cinders will be able to discuss this with the teacher and find out a little more about the program. She mentioned that there were other rewards and she is just stuck on the candy/junk food issue because it doesn't agree with her or her child. But for other children(perhaps those who don't get as much candy/junk food at home, as mentioned by posters here) this would be a real treat. What works for one child may or may not work for another. Motivation is a funny thing. Thus the array of rewards.

Hopefully, it will work itself out and everyone will be happy.

 

[Cinders]

I'm not negative toward teachers that give rewards or that work hard. Giving kids rewards for doing what is expected of them is taking the easy way out. What happens to these kids next year when they have a new set of teachers. The kids will expect to be given a treat for behaving and the cycle will continue. Where will it end? We're not talking about 5 year olds we're talking about 12 and 13 year olds that should be able to behave without a prize as an incentive.

After reading all the responses I thought I'd look into this a little more and see if I could find any educators on the net that thought rewarding with junkfood was a good idea. Below are a couple of links to sites with opinions on rewarding children.

This one is a description of a book. Punished By Reward

The Risks of Rewards

Beware of Bribes and Rewards

Rewards vs Bribes

Can anyone direct me to any information that says rewarding good behaviour for more than 3 weeks to get the kids in the habit of good behaviour is a good thing? I'd be interested in reading anything you can find.

 

[Sunny]

I don't have a problem with rewards. My kids didn't get them at home (except for once - I potty trained on the M&M System..... ) I personally don't care what so called experts on the web and anywhere say - they are usually a little "fruity" themselves so you need to do what works. If this works for the teachers and kids, that's great!!

I happen to be on a reward system at work here. If I do good, then I don't get fired and I get a raise once a year. Throughout the year, if you go over and above what's expected, you get free dinners, movie tickets, etc. I'm pretty sure that's how most corporations are, don't you think?

 

[Lynn CC]

My DS is in high school and he's gotten a lot of candy from teachers throughout the years. I don't like it, but he does
I was surprised that they had candy jars in freshman year. They also gave them fake bucks that they could use on tests to add points and such. I wasn't fond of this teacher for many reasons (too long of a story).

I think teachers are just trying to make it more fun and less hum-drum for the kids!