Cincinnati High School Paying Students To Come To School


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CINCINNATI, Ohio (CBS Cleveland) ? A Cincinnati high school is paying its students to come to school.

The Dohn Community High School has launched a $40,000 incentive program to get students to come to class.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, students will get Visa gift cards for showing up everyday for school, being on time for class and not getting into trouble. Seniors would get $25 while underclassmen would get $10.

The school would also put $5 into a savings account for the student that earns a gift card.

Despite taking criticism for the program, Dohn Principal Ramone Davenport brushes it aside.

?People will say you?re rewarding kids for something they should already be doing anyway,? Davenport told the Enquirer. ?But they?re not doing it. We?ve tried everything else.?

Dohn students have come around to the idea, excited about being rewarded for coming to school.

?I?m very excited to get the money,? 16-year-old student Arneqka Lester told the paper. ?It makes me want to come to school on time, not that I don?t. But some students don?t have the money and this will help them. It?s a good idea.?

The school is trying out this new idea after the Ohio Department of Education designated the school an ?academic emergency? on its report card. About 14 percent of students graduated from Dohn during the 2010-2011 school year.

CBS Cleveland has reached out to Dohn Community High School for comment.

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"Seniors would get $25 while underclassmen would get $10."

Per day, per week or per month? Or year? I think this is a good idea, provided the school can afford it and isn't cutting on other more important things.

I certainly would have loved this when I was at highschool. It's not easy to afford lollies and weed when your 15 :D

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-cue the "these kids are so freaking lazy when I was a kid yadayadayada"-

funny thing is this isn't a new development and was quite a problem in the 80s and 90s too.

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They did this in the UK a while ago...

yea EMA to bad only poor families got it -.- so unfair maybe i wanted an extra 120 a month -.- pfft but no, even though I actually wanted to go and got good grades I got nothing compared to the other people who saw it as a job and copy and pasted their work off the internet just so they could get cash...rant over

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That's sad. Really sad.

Though using money as a motivator, is just as sad.

Money has always been used as the motivator. Difference is now it is closer to instant gratification. What do you think "go to college" and "get a good job" is? Teachers tell their kids that they have to go to college to get a good job so they can make good money.

I am wondering if the 14% is of the graduating class or total students. If it is total students, it would depend on the set up for how bad it is. 9-12 grades would mean its about half of the senior class. If it is 10-12, 1/3 are only graduating. Neither numbers are good obviously but I find it hard to believe that 14% of the entire senior class is graduating.

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The big thing is: It's not like them getting money is going to make them listen or want to learn. They are going to show up for their money, and that is it. This is only teaching them that it's OK to show up to work to just stand around, and get paid, as if we don't have enough of that in the workplace now. This is a terrible idea, and its basis is completely on the fact that the school gets money daily per attendance rate of each student, so they aren't technically taking a loss, or a big one at that.

If they don't want to come to school, and learn, then why bother. Giving them money isn't going to change that, unless they based it on attendance AND academic ratings. Now they are just catering to the lazy, entitled crowd and setting a horrible trend of "I showed up, where is my money?" Not even preparing them for the world of working hard for what you earn. You don't reward someone at work for showing up on time, or at all. They do it, or they don't have a job. This is just disgusting.

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Money has always been used as the motivator. Difference is now it is closer to instant gratification. What do you think "go to college" and "get a good job" is? Teachers tell their kids that they have to go to college to get a good job so they can make good money.

'Earning money' idea isn't that bad. But at this young age, earning through this method is silly. Its not like they are doing some hi-tech researches and analysis.

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The big thing is: It's not like them getting money is going to make them listen or want to learn. They are going to show up for their money, and that is it. This is only teaching them that it's OK to show up to work to just stand around, and get paid, as if we don't have enough of that in the workplace now. This is a terrible idea, and its basis is completely on the fact that the school gets money daily per attendance rate of each student, so they aren't technically taking a loss, or a big one at that.

If they don't want to come to school, and learn, then why bother. Giving them money isn't going to change that, unless they based it on attendance AND academic ratings. Now they are just catering to the lazy, entitled crowd and setting a horrible trend of "I showed up, where is my money?" Not even preparing them for the world of working hard for what you earn. You don't reward someone at work for showing up on time, or at all. They do it, or they don't have a job. This is just disgusting.

And if they don't show up and don't finish high school, they have a statistically higher chance of ending up on welfare for the rest of their life making them not even have to show up for the paycheck. Part of the stipulation on getting the money is not getting into trouble. Getting bad grades gets you sent to in school suspension in most places which means for these kids to get the money, they would have to maintain passing grades which requires learning. This is much better than nothing being done at all.

'Earning money' idea isn't that bad. But at this young age, earning through this method is silly. Its not like they are doing some hi-tech researches and analysis.

I get what your saying an agree, but like its been stated, its better to try something that do nothing at all.

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And if they don't show up and don't finish high school, they have a statistically higher chance of ending up on welfare for the rest of their life making them not even have to show up for the paycheck. Part of the stipulation on getting the money is not getting into trouble. Getting bad grades gets you sent to in school suspension in most places which means for these kids to get the money, they would have to maintain passing grades which requires learning. This is much better than nothing being done at all.

I get what your saying an agree, but like its been stated, its better to try something that do nothing at all.

you don't get suspended for bad grades. In my senior year I failed almost all my classes. And money won't motivate them to do better
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you don't get suspended for bad grades. In my senior year I failed almost all my classes. And money won't motivate them to do better

Who said anything about being suspended? In school suspension /= suspended. It means you get put in a room where all you can do is do school work. No talking, no socializing during lunch. It completely cuts them off from the social aspects of high school which drives most students nuts. The only option to get out is to do your work and raise your grades.

Don't over simplify the problem or the solution. There are tons of aspects to motivating a student to do anything. Money alone won't motivate them. Money, peer pressure, loss of privileges, etc have can be used to increase the chances of students giving a damn.

The other option is not do anything and continue to watch our youth get progressively worse in school.

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you don't get suspended for bad grades. In my senior year I failed almost all my classes. And money won't motivate them to do better

Maybe amend it so that it requires both attendance and a passing grade.

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This is a win win for the school and students. First, schools get paid by the government based on attendance. While I was in highschool during the late 90's, it was roughly like $80 a day for each kid. That money though goes to pay for the teachers and other things the school needs. But if the school isn't getting kids attending, this will help them get the funds they need, and isn't a huge chunk out of what they get from the government. Great program to help I think.

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