Behavior awards in schools?

[Melaine]

I'm curious what you guys think about this and what different schools do. I saw on my facebook feed that one of my friends kindy son was being honored with some kind of act of kindness award. There was a pic of a big group of kids who all got certificates saying basically that they had allowed another class to go ahead of them in the hall. At first I thought this was completely ridiculous, but then I thought, it's only a piece of paper and maybe it does encourage good behavior?

WDYT? Just another celebration of mediocrity? or valuable teaching tool?

[Mikey0709]

Our elementary school does "gotcha" awards.... basically if a teacher recognizes or catches you doing something good - act of kindness, good deed, etc.... no matter how small.

I believe the gotcha awards are announced on the loudspeaker the next day.

I think it can be encouraging, the kids love to hear their name announced and shows them even a small act can mean alot! My son loves coming home and letting me know he got a gotcha!

[sste]

Many of the great acts of politics and diplomacy across history were fundamentally acts of kindness. So, I don't see this as encouraging mediocrity.

Also, I firmly believe schools should use more "positive discipline." My local elementary, which educates a socio-economically diverse groups of students, has won a national award for its positive behavior system -- the school uses punishment sparingly and the students get "tickets" for good behavior.

[Tondi G]

yeah our elementary school does this. Every Friday morning we have an assembly and there are student of the week awards and random act of kindness awards.

My DS got a random act of kindness award when he found a couple of dollars on the ground and went and turned them in to the principal. Most kids would have just pocketed the money and considered it a "finders keepers" deal. He felt proud for doing the right thing.

I have heard reasons for getting a random act of kindness award being helpful with other students in class. being a great reading buddy to a student in a younger class (helping them learn their sight words etc.) etc.

I can't decide if it is good or not. I kind of feel like kids "caught being good" should feel their own sense of pride not necessarily awarded with a paper certificate and be called out in front of the whole school.... but maybe it's helpful?! I suppose it is better to give kids something to strive for.

[Melaine]

Tondi, I think picking up money and turning it in is absolutely something that should be acknowleged. To me that is really admirable for a child (or an adult) and something many would not do. I guess I just thought letting another class go ahead seemed like a pathetic reason for an award. Maybe it was one of those "facebook brag" things that just rubbed me the wrong way?

All I meant by encouraging mediocrity was "awarding" things that are basic manners...I didn't mean that true kindness isn't valuable.

ETA: Because we homeschool, I was truly curious about what other schools are doing in this area, so I wasn't just complaining about this particular situation. I'm wondering if these programs have proven successful in fostering a change in behavior?

[ang79]

Our school does monthly celebrations for good behavior at assemblies, they call them iRoar assemblies and everyone wears school spirit colors that day and they do a special activity at the assembly. My daughter's kindy class also does special recognition for good behavior. The students that don't get any disciplinary notes get their turn at meeting w/ the school counselor and she gives them a certificate and prize. I think these kids are also recognized at the monthly assembly. My daughter thinks its great, as she is a good kid. She is a rule driven kid and she wants to participate in these assemblies and have her chance at a prize, so its good motivation for her to follow the school rules. Not sure how much it impacts those that have trouble following the rules though. But I think its nice to give recognition to those who are doing well, so that they don't feel like their good behavior goes by unnoticed.

[JBaxter]

Our Elem school expects a level of behavior but if a teacher sees a child going beyond that they get recognized

[georgiegirl]

Our schools do Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS). They have a whole system involving punch cards and getting rewards when you fill yours up. Recess teachers, bus drivers, support staff, etc., all have the power to give the kids punches. In addition each teacher often has an additional positive behavior reinforcement system (right now it's green, yellow, and red.)

I'm for any sort of things that encourages children to be kind and respectful.

[sste]

Oh Melaine, I understood what you were getting at - - are there some things you should do just because you should do them. Maybe a reward lessens the intrinsic motivation and it becomes all about the reward . . . which is the opposite of morality and character.

But, on balance, I think schools are reward-oriented and they communicate value through their rewards. Given the overwhelming emphasis on grades and academic prizes, I think recognizing character or kindness communicates something important about what important adults in the child's life value.

Georgiegirl, I think our elementary uses pbis too. I will find out more next year! From what I have heard from parents and educators, it is very effective, more so than punishment.

[rlu]

Our schools do Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS). They have a whole system involving punch cards and getting rewards when you fill yours up. Recess teachers, bus drivers, support staff, etc., all have the power to give the kids punches. In addition each teacher often has an additional positive behavior reinforcement system (right now it's green, yellow, and red.)

I'm for any sort of things that encourages children to be kind and respectful.

Our school uses PBIS as well. Generally done at recess, a student doing something "good" gets a bracelet (looks like shoestring) that they put into the PBIS jar in the front office (getting kudos when they put the bracelet in) and when the jar is full the school gets an extra recess that day (or the next). There are also little cards the kids would get if they were caught doing something good (like picking up trash) and that would be sent home. I haven't seen one of those in while, not sure if they still do them or if DS is too busy playing to earn them anymore. Now that I think about it, I wonder if those go along with the braclet - need to ask DH who does lunch yard duty.

eta: there are also assemblies that go along with this - DS doesn't talk much about it but since he's a pretty good kid (he was chosen to be a 3rd grade "peace patrol" member) I haven't been asking.