{"id":4029,"date":"2013-09-24T22:12:59","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T05:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=4029"},"modified":"2013-09-24T22:12:59","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T05:12:59","slug":"schools-to-replace-candy-with-video-games-as-reward-for-good-scores-and-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=4029","title":{"rendered":"Schools to Replace Candy with Video Games as Reward for Good Scores and Behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>Teachers have long struggled with the best way to appropriately incentivize kids to work harder at school and behave better. Dozens of studies have been done in regards to what will work best to encourage children to do better on tests, including one where students were actually paid for better test scores<\/a>\nIn the end, teachers are pretty much in a corner, as public schools will not fund these rewards so teachers are forced to find an inexpensive way to motivate the kids. \u201cI\u2019ve been giving kids small pieces of candy for years,\u201d says Bill Roberts Elementary teacher John DeLay. \u201cIt is inexpensive, and the kids respond to it.\u201d DeLay says that he is not giving the kids a large amount, just small pieces. \u201cLiterally, I will give kids one M&M,\u201d says DeLay. \u201cIt is more about them seeing the reward and feeling proud that they did it, and the class gets to see them rewarded before they eat their 3.44 calorie treat.\u201d\nNot shockingly, this reward system has drawn the ire of some Stapleton moms. \u201cI don\u2019t want my child having candy at school,\u201d says Erin Herold, mother of a Swigert Elementary student. \u201cWhen I am with them, I can control this intake. I have no faith that the school is going to monitor this appropriately. We already have too many obese kids in this country.\u201d Other moms agreed. \u201cWhy can\u2019t they give away broccoli, or maybe let the kids run a mile or do 25 pushups every time they do well,\u201d asks parent Becky Axtell. \u201cTo me, there is just a lot more synergy in that than rewarding good behavior with a negative item.\u201d\nThe PTA and teachers decided the best way to incentivize kids at school would be to use the same incentives Stapleton kids have at home. \u201cA lot of Stapleton parents get their kids expensive gifts for doing well in school, being nice to siblings, or just going to bed without making a fuss,\u201d said PTA President Angela Benning. \u201cSo, we decided to put some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars we raise towards video games for teachers to hand out to kids when they get a good score on a test, behave well, or help with a classroom task.\u201d\nThe schools were smart about how they purchased the games, getting them used from Craig\u2019s List and eBay, and donations from homes that are tired of the games they have. \u201cWe spent about $125,000 on used video games,\u201d said Benning. \u201cWe will use this as a benchmark, and see if we need more games next year, or if we can allot less money to the fund.\u201d Luckily for the PTA, there have been no studies directly connecting childhood obesity and video games (we don\u2019t think).\n]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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