I have real doubts about the cash-for-kids program (“Learn-&-Earn Plan Pays Off,” June 8).
It amounts to a bribe, and the kids know it. They are being given money for something they should be doing on their own — studying harder to get a better education.
Consider what they will run into out in the real world. No employer is going to make an exception for these kids.
Dave M. O’Neill
Manhattan
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Giving students an incentive to perform better in school actually works.
Students see that they can gain from their own merit, and it makes them better Americans. They learn the value of capitalism and the American Way.
Reward those who deserve it.
Daniel Oppenheimer
Miami Beach, Fla.
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Paying kids for passing tests is a short-term victory and a long-term disaster.
Under this regime, children are taught to expect extraordinary rewards for ordinary behavior. As adults, they will expect a bonus for showing up for work and completing routine tasks.
Children are best served in the long run when they are taught self-reliance, rather than dependence upon external rewards.
Mark Stuart Ellison
Brooklyn
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What will happen when there is no money available to pay children to learn? Will children demand the right not to learn if they don’t get paid?
Do they have the right to quit school because they are not getting paid?
It is morally unthinkable to pay children to do what they are required to do.
T. Kastin
Queens