Money, it is what makes the world spin. Like it or not, money fuels people. Why would you work for hours a day, five days a week, if it did not? You are always tired, always stressed, so when your paycheck roles in, you feel you deserve it. Now think about students. They also work hours a day, five days a week, but where is their reward? People say that kids who go to school are lucky, but it does not feel that way when you spent all night studying or had a math assignment that made no sense. This raises the question, should students get paid to go to school?

What research has shown

Although the research is mixed, one study by Harvard’s Roland G. Fryer states, “(…) our results suggest that student incentives increase achievement when the rewards are given for inputs to the educational production function, but incentives tied to output are not effective.” In this study, they distributed around $6.3 million to about 38,000 students, in 261 urban schools. What they found was that when students were paid for things like good test scores, they saw little to no improvement. However, when they paid students for things they (the students) felt like they could control like studying, students did substantially better in school.

How to make incentives work

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As Baldur Hedinsson puts it, “The leading theory is that students do not understand the educational production function and, thus, lack the know-how to translate their excitement about the incentive structure into measurable output.” What they are basically saying is that a lot of kids might not know how to get good grades. Even if a student is excited about an incentive, if they do not know how to do well in school, then rewards linked to outputs are not effective. So, to make cash incentives work, it has to be given for things like studying or homework. When a student completes all their homework and takes time to study, they will do better on tests and have a greater understanding for what it is they are being taught.

Why the benefits outway the concerns

Many people fear that paying students for school will destroy any love of learning they previously had. However, it is hard for students to love learning when they associate school with homework and tests. Not many people I know wake up and say, “Yes! I have school today!” Instead, they walk through the doors tired and grumpy, ready to go home before the day has even started. In a New York Times article by Amy Mccready, she says that cash incentives can also instill, “(…) a ‘what’s in it for me?’ attitude. If the reward is money for good grades, it sends the message that the reason to work hard in school is to enrich your wallet rather than your mind.” But isn’t it safe to say that that is the society we live in today? For instance, most lawyers do not get into criminal law because they want to help people, they do it because of the hefty paycheck. Let’s face it, you cannot have a stable life just by volunteering and helping people. However harsh that may sound, it is the truth, and we cannot pretend that students do not live in the real world. After all, isn’t that what school is supposed to prepare them for?

People also like to say that students have it so much easier than adults, and while there may be some truth to that, we have to take everything into consideration. We must realize that as students enter high school, they basically need to become adults in four years. They start driving, are expected to get a job, and have to decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives. As if that is not enough, they must do all of this while balancing everyday tasks like chores, sports, extracurriculars, and school work. Now, in my opinion, that seems pretty grueling. [perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It does not matter if you go to school or a job, both are work, and both should be seen as such.[/perfectpullquote]

Paying students actually makes sense

Even though there are many objections against students being paid to go to school, there is a lot of research that shows the benefits of it, and if you think about it, it makes sense. Think about it this way, imagine I told you study for a test. Now imagine I said I would pay you $100 for every hour you studied, do you think you would study longer the second time? Of course you would, you had motivation beyond thinking that it would help your grade. Although that motivation was still there, $100 an hour seemed a lot more rewarding at the time. This is how most people think, in today’s world we are all concerned with the here and now. You can decide for yourself whether you think that is good or bad, but that is just the way it is. We cannot fault kids for being concerned with the latest and greatest, because that is how they grew up.

Amy Mccready says that, “(…) when we inspire a love of learning, cultivate good habits and allow them to plot their own course, they will truly flourish.” But fantasizing our school system is not right, school is hard, and a lot of students do not “flourish.” If we act like schools are movie sets where everyone gets a happy ending, we are blinding ourselves to the fact that school is a mental battle for so many kids. A lot of students do not have any motivation when it comes to school, and fall behind. Paying students has been shown to drastically improve their academic performance, so why wouldn’t we want that?

Conclusion

While some people may try and find everything wrong with paying students, the research remains the same: it has been proven to help them. Whether that is because they come from a low income family and must help bring in money, are saving for college, etc. We are one of the richest countries in the world, but our students performance in school has a lot of room for improvement. I think that it is time we do all that we can to help students, after all, they are the future.

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