Paying Kids To Stay In School

[MrsSpringsteen]

Good idea or not? I have read about many different incentive programs involving money, iPods, etc for perfect attendance and/or good grades.


Ed Tribble Reports, KVOA Tuscon
It pays exactly $25 for Tucson kids to stay in school

Aug 8, 2007

Local high school students will soon be cashing in for hitting the books.

A new pilot program promises to pay them to stay in school.

More than 20,000 Arizona teens dropped out of the class of 2006.

To fight the problem, 75 students from low income families at Amphi High and 100 from Rincon high were picked for the new program.

The students will get $25 a week as an incentive to stay in school.

A local nonprofit will pay for the project.

To get the money, the kids have to stay out of trouble and keep their grades up... Kids like Cassandra Hardin.

"I can get money for doing what I'm already doing."

Hardin was hand picked to be part of this pilot project, and says the money will make a difference to her future.

"You're getting paid to listen to a teacher tell you things you might need later," says student Travis Jager.

He says it's an incentive to stay in school. He plans on hitting the books to keep his grades up.

"I'll focus on my studies and help out around the house," he says.

The idea of being paid to stay in school bodes well for Dylan Ebright. He dropped out a few years ago and now fixes electronics.

Even though he got his GED, he wishes he'd stayed in school.

"I think a lot of kids see the rap stars and all the money they make and think if they drop out of school they can be like that," he says. His big message: stay in school.

It's advice for those still in school from someone who dropped out.

 

[Varitek]

Programs like this are used in the third world to incentivize families to allow kids, especially girls, to go to school or training programs. One of the reasons people drop out is that they need more money. But $25 a week is pretty marginal compared to what a dropout could make with more working hours, so I wonder how effective it can be.

 

[Angela Harlem]

It reminds me of Dickhead Howard's dickhead idea of paying school leavers to dick around in the armed forces for a year. It just doesn't address the real issue. Sure, pay the kids; if it keeps them in school then that is good. But then it's also a tad bad in that school isn't an incentive environment, and this minor problem could be addressed if the issues surrounding children dropping out were addressed.

 

[Varitek]

^I agree, the key is to address the root causes of children dropping out, but that's a multi-generation proposal, so you've got to do something to help kids now.