Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?

[squirell nutkin]

Interesting article.

According to one of the baby raising gurus, either Sears or Penelope Leach, there is a difference between a bribe and an incentive.

An incentive is a contract, if you do x I will give you y. A bribe is an offer, after the contract to get the other person to fulfill an agreement they already made or complete a task you have already requested without an offer of reward.

"C'mon, you said you'd do x, please do x like you said. I'll give you xyz if you do x..." They had already agreed to do x and were reneging. adding extra rewards is a bribe and supposedly not good for the kid nor for the parents' standing.

It is a little unclear if these kids are being bribed since their participation in school is not voluntary (for the most part).