"Cruel and heartless": Dad slammed after approach to kids studies
2020 has been a tough year, especially when it comes to keeping your children motivated.
But one dad has found himself in a heated argument with his wife over his approach to keep their kids motivated about their schoolwork.
Taking to Reddit, the dad explained that despite his 7-year-old and 11-year-old being generally good students, like many, they’ve started facing some difficulties when it comes to their learning.
"[It's] been hard on them and their grades have started to slip," he explained.
The father continued to say that both his sons have been begging him for a Nintendo Switch, so he decided to use it as motivation for a big test they both had coming up.
"I wanted them to do well on it," he admitted. "I told them that whoever gets the higher score on the test would get a Switch, but if EITHER of them got less than a B+, then NEITHER would get anything."
Unsurprisingly, both boys studied really hard and both received A's.
"I was very proud of them, and told them that since they'd done so well, I was going to give them both Switches," he wrote, before admitting he'd been planning on giving them Switches all along.
However, when he told his wife she was not happy with his method.
"She went ballistic and told me that what I'd done was cruel and heartless, and that our kids' grades didn't matter that much," the dad said, before asking the Reddit community if he did the wrong thing.
Many agreed that the dad took it a step too far by essentially pitting his kids against one another, especially because the age difference means vastly different work loads.
"It would be one thing to reward good grades however, the fact that if one got less than a B+ then neither would get a reward is a bit unfair and could stir animosity and resentment against the two," one user pointed out.
Others said bribing them with prizes is encouraging them to learn for the wrong reasons.
"They have to value their education because they value learning and growing intellectually," the user said.
"If you want them to do well, help them develop better study strategies, consider tutoring or academic support to assist them with these skills," agreed another.
"Getting a good grade isn't the end goal, being a good student is."