Rewarding kids for going to school sets the bar low

London, Aug. 30: Many children may be dreading going back to school after the summer holidays.

However, new research shows children should not be rewarded for their attendance at school, as this makes them more likely to play truant.

Researchers studied schemes where children are given “attendance awards”, which are currently in place in part of California.

Far from improving overall behaviour, scientists found the practice — which is also used in some British schools — actually makes children more likely to skive.

According to the pupils for turning up for lessons sends them the message that “normal attendance” is lower than their own.

This makes students feel like they should miss school in order to conform.

Researchers led by Harvard University studied data from some 15,000 secondary schools and found the “attendance awards” policy was either entirely ineffectual, or pushed children to be more likely to play truant.

The study, published by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, found that prizes promised in advance made no difference to actual atten

The latest findings showed those who won the prize for attendance were less likely to maintain high attendance in future.

According to the BBC, these awards inadvertently have a ‘ demotivating’ effect.

The winning students mistakenly believe their attendance is higher than feel able to miss more days in the future.

They also feel they have performed better than was organisationally expected.

“A school leaders survey shows that awards for attendance are common, and that the organisational leaders who offer these awards are unaware of their potential demotivating impact,” researchers led by Dr Carly D Robinson wrote in the paper.

“When people feel that they have exceeded the expectations for a socially desirable behaviour, they may subsequently become less likely to perform the socially desirable behaviour have resulted in recipients feeling allowed to miss a future day of school.”

This is because it mistakenly leads pupils to believe they have been exceptional in the past, rather than doing what was required of them.

“These findings have implications for when and how awards should be used to motivate desirable behaviours — and when they may backfire,” researchers wrote.

Researchers say more than 80 per cent of corporations now use ‘ Employee of the Month’ awards for top salespeople. The study says there is conflicting evidence over the effectiveness of these schemes