Schools Should Not Pay Students For Good Grades Essay

The proposition that ”if schools truly want students to be motivated to do well in school, then schools should be willing to pay students for their hard work,” contains logical fallacies. For example, “but why should students work (learn) for nothing” begs the question. Also these proponents assert the idea that students are doing job (learning) and should be paid for it does not follow or a non-sequitur fallacy. On the contrary, this proposed reward system will cause problems in the classroom. Rewarding students for good grades will decrease student’s self-motivation. Paying students for good grades will realize an actual decrease in academic performance. These distinct disadvantages highlight why schools should not pay students for good grades. First, paying students for good grades causes practical problems in the classroom. According to the National Education Association (NEA), “Many teachers also say paying students for grades leads to practical problems in their classrooms, including pressure to inflate grades and conflict with students and parents.” These pressures and conflicts can lead to larger problems outside of school. Instead of focusing on learning the subject material, students may focus only raising their grade rather than learning the academic material.

When considering the choice of whether schools should pay students or not, schools not paying students for good grades is definitely the choice. If students are paid, they will experience lower scores and practical problems in the classroom which will escalate to problems outside of school. Also, paying for good grades can lead to a reduction of the child’s self-motivation. If my claim is not listened to, the future of these innocent children will become ominous and undetermined. Most parents want the best for their children; however paying children for good grades will only diminish all the amazing opportunities for