Should Students Get Paid for Grades?

Dueling debaters, Meredith Nash and Julia Barshak.

Should Students Get Paid for Grades?

Should students get paid for getting grades? Two top student correspondents duel it out in this debate.

Argument for why students should get paid for good grades:

Everyday, students are impelled to achieve the best grades possible, sometimes even ignoring the initial matter of obtaining information and actually having to process it. Not only are students pressured by immediate family and school faculty, but the ongoing push to earn money from those large A’s written on papers.

From personal experience and being an A to B student I’m constantly encouraged to carry out those high numbers. Ever since my parents first introduced the idea of money, I never realized how much a single dollar bill can really influence stamina.

Stamina to earn good grades that is.

Of the students whom are paid, their grades improved radically by nearly 40% as a result for getting paid by parents and majority from the group are reaching out for higher and more challenging grades to achieve. Can getting paid have a positive influence on grades? I believe so.

The higher the grade, the more money received. The more money received, well the happier the student. All high school students are hungry for those green dollar bills whether it be for later saving or a trip to the mall. Some students don’t necessarily have the time for a part time job so this initially is there only income.

By having that push, better grades come out as a result. Not only are students being pushed into the better scholastic visions but from exclusive experience I’ve become overall an all around more content person. The better grades not only make the student happy, but the parent happy.

Similarly to a systematic domino reaction when one thing reacts, the others must follow. Exceptional grades create for an elated family that ties a knot around a total family. Altogether, creating a positive outcome. Alike to giving a child a gentle nudge into the right direction, one little push can spawn a concrete end, with improved grades.

Many people say, school is our occupation, for now. Equivalently, how adults are paid for their hard work, there’s nothing wrong with a small reward. It’s honestly hard to sift out any cons with the system of getting paid for your grades, making it a truly worthwhile arrangement to attempt.

Argument against:

How much can money really buy? Can it really buy success? Of course not. The only benefit to paying students for their good grades is that it’s is a cheap way to motivate. Yet if the only motivation is a little extra cash in our pockets, is that really a good reason to study?

Paying for grades puts more importance on the letter than the understanding of the topic. Grades are reflections of a combination of efforts, understanding, and occasional other factors. We have all had the disappointment of a test that no matter how much we study the grade wasn’t as good as we had hoped.

 There is also the issue of how much is each grade worth. Are A’s worth more than B’s? Does a B follow under the same category as a B plus? What happens if a student has more trouble in one class compared to another? Is this more difficult class worth more? Paying students for grades creates more problems than it is worth.

Imagine knowing you would have been paid if you did better. That would feel like a kick while we are down.  The majority of students I have asked are not being paid, there must be a reason for this.  Why would this be the case? Because it is unreasonable.

Quite simply, it is nothing other than bribery. I would almost find it insulting. To me, being paid for your grades says that they don’t believe I will do well unless I am paid. As if our parents don’t do enough for us already, know we insist on being paid to attend school and do well?

This is ridiculous. Of course the thought of being paid for grades is appealing, but if someone thinks a little deeper than their shallow desire for money, they may find the idea outrageous.