Tuesday, April 9. 2024

I got into a fight with strangers on the internet/Facebook last month. No, not really – but, I did make a comment to this post that declared that a school’s PTA had purchased bumper cars to use in the school hallways for student incentives:

It showed a picture of two teachers trying them out. I cut off their heads because I don’t know them and it felt like the right thing to do.

I’m not sure why this elementary school news blurb showed up in my feed, but I commented that now schools are required to literally run a carnival? I got lots of support for my post, but I also got some, “oh they just want to have fun” kind of things.

So, two bumper cars in the school hallway for students who “work hard”. Let’s say you have 500 kids. What a huge distraction for all involved! The kids who get to ride will be talking smack, the kids who don’t will be fixated on when it will be their turn, the teachers trying to walk down hallways during their planning period will be dodging bumper cars, the custodians will most likely have more to clean, the liabilities when and not if someone gets hurt, and I as a parent would not sign a waiver to let my kid participate so it would cause problems for me at home.

Also, do we want to teach kids to bump into other cars? That might be bad for their driver’s ed course coming up in the future!

How can we teach kids to work hard because it’s the right thing to do and because you will be proud of yourself?

My school recently rewarded the kids who hadn’t gotten in a fight or had a behavior referral with stress balls complete with our school logo. That was fun! I can still hear the balls bouncing in my sleep. Shouldn’t we have given the stress balls to those who fought? Or, to the teachers?

Maybe this is showing my age, but I think we have taken rewards for kids too far.

Sound off in the comments if you have any thoughts. You can certainly disagree with me!

Amy

26 thoughts on “Have rewards for kids gone too far?”

  1. I totally agree. Our school offers “paw tickets” (our mascot is a Panther). In order to participate in “reward” programs/incentives you need a certain amount of tickets. When I was in school we did not have this. You did your work and had recess. Another thing I get angry at is book fairs and the “trash” that is available for kids to buy before school starts. “Trash” is usually lower quantity than the Dollar Tree. It is like throwing money away. We have gone round and round with our daughter. She is not a reader but demands she gets a book at every book fair. NOPE! I am not having another book sitting in her room. 

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  2. my view on this as a former teacher administrator and now a school improvement specialist is that it’s just a Band-Aid on a problem. Most of my school improvement work involves doing very extensive comprehensive needs assessments at schools and a big part is conducting a root cause analysis to find out why things are the way they are rather than just slapping a Band-Aid on it. This school needs to figure out why the kids aren’t working “hard“ instead of rewarding probably the same small group of kids over and over. I guarantee there are reasons for some kids, not conforming, and if the school cared enough to figure out why and make changes, they would not need to buy bumper cars. I would not be happy to find out money. I contributed to the parent group was buying bumper cars. OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now!

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  3. My first thought as a tax payer is that I would be pissed because you know at some point some sort of damage is going to be made to the building– or a person and then the town will be on the hook for a huge lawsuit (because let’s face it people are incredibly sue happy). Elementary school kids are ridiculously easy to motivate– just a “fun” movie or a pizza day, etc. is all you need. Heck, give them 20 minutes of extra recess one day and it’s like they hit the lottery. This seems way over the top and I’m betting the adults have more fun with those cards than the kids ever will…

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  4. I think rewards are getting ridiculous and have been for some time. There is no longer a work ethic in our country for children or adults.

    The bumper cars look like a major liability – yikes!!

    xo,

    Kellyann

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  5. When Jonah and Noah were in elementary school, their admin decided it would be a great idea to reward the kids who always got in trouble with fun things to do during school hours. My issue with that was the kids who always did what they were supposed to went unnoticed. At least your school rewarded those who acted like normal teenagers! It was another reason we were ready to get out of the public school system; today it’s different, though, and the schools here are better. In their defense, it was a rough two years when county school merged with the city schools, and jobs were threatened across the board. I’ll always be glad it happened like it did, because it made us into a homeschooling family for life. We’re seeing more and more of that today as curriculum is changing for students, and I will always pass along any knowledge I have to help someone with getting started! I said all of that to say that I agree with your thoughts on today’s post. I’m sure it’s hard to work in an environment you don’t necessarily agree with; it was for me back when the boys were little.

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    1. Nope, just nope. And, good for you for speaking up. Only you know what is best for your family and all parents should see themselves as their kids’ primary teachers.

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  6. Rewards for not fighting?! Seriously, did I read that correctly? We’ve lost our minds! I’m all for a pizza party for a class that scores well on SOLs or something similar but this reward system has gotten way out of hand. It isn’t teaching anything and is silly.

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    1. You did, girl. Wish I was making that up. We’ve had so many fights since the pandemic which are – get this – brought on by the cell phones and perpetuated by the cell phones – talking smack and then videotaping and giving glory to the fights.

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  8. I agree with you and with what Trish said above! Rewarding kids for not getting into trouble?!! 😳 Craziness!!

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  9. As a retired teacher I agree with you. These type of rewards are a distraction and cause problems between students. Good behavior and kindness should be expected and not a “what’s in it for me” situation.

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  10. They might as well have bought those giant stuffed animals to ride around on. That’s just insane and another “thing” for a teacher to have to deal with. I can’t blame the kids though…it’s the adults and social media, in my opinion. 

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  11. As a former middle school and current high school teacher, I totally agree with you! Yes, it has gone too far! Who wants to get hit in the back of the legs by a bumper car?! My sons did well in high school but, as my younger son put it, “I made high honor roll, went to pick up my slice of pizza, and the principal didn’t even know my name!” He also got a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT and wasn’t recognized for it. Meanwhile, lower-level students who showed up for Saturday tutoring before state testing were given chances to win bikes, flat-screen TVs, gift cards, etc. The best was at my previous middle school- the principal chose the 20 worst behaved students and invited them to his office every Fri afternoon. He gave them pizza, snacks, and sodas. If they didn’t get a referral that week, they also got gift cards. Even my 7th graders questioned that! Once again the “good” kids got nothing. The teachers figured that the school district was after him over the number of referrals being written. I believe whether students are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated begins at home.

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  12. I definitely agree on this one! What happened to kids (even teenagers) being thrilled with a sticker on their paper. I agree that things like this can often leave the average kids feeling unnoticed.

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  13. I agree we have gone too far with bumper cars in the hallway. I also didn’t like participation ribbons at field days. But, having been a special ed teacher who worked with kids with emotional handicaps (I don’t know the PC term anymore) as well as the kids with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, I was the one who suggested rewarding good work/behavior with small rewards that led to something big involving the whole class. It was a hard sell and never really worked well as teachers didn’t buy into it. I understood their hesitancy and even felt it myself. But, it was my job to suggest it. When I became a general ed teacher, I tried those same tactics in my classroom, but I also provided them to my other kids. One of the things I did that really did work was to have a five pound bag of Jolly Ranchers. When a kid answered something correctly, I’d toss them a Jolly Rancher. At first, I did it all the time, then it became more sporadic…you know that old psychology ploy! I have to say that was one of the most successful classroom tactics I ever used. 

    But, I do think we have been “OK” with bad behavior for far too long, and it’s showing in our society. I think rewarding good work/behavior with recognition of some kind is always a good idea as long as it’s consistent and fair.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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  14. I love your honest thoughts on the school system these days. I just spent a week with my 12 & 15 year old niece and nephew. They are so distracted with phones and headphones it was crazy. I think small rewards are ok but praise is still the best and kids need to learn to be happy and not always expect stuff

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