
My 8 year old is in debt. - lwhsiao
https://medium.com/@juliemgold/my-8-year-old-is-in-debt-fe163774d2a3
======
EliRivers
Hard to tell if this is a special one time "get into debt and earn money to
get out of it" experiment, but if this becomes a permanent feature; in a few
years time, when other people's teenage children will be mowing the lawn just
because it's part of their life and the give and take of living with family, I
wonder if these children will be telling their parents they don't need the
money, thanks. Tidy my room? No thanks, I took a job at McDonalds so I don't
need to earn money at home. Wash the car? Still got enough money to last until
the weekend, thanks. Go to visit Grandma? That's going to cost you.

I wonder if, beyond that and into the rest of their lives, such children would
have learned to associate doing anything for their parents as only being done
for financial reward. If someone was doing this as an experiment to see what
kind of familial relationships exist when a child has been brought up this
way, I'd think they were in serious need of a visit from the ethics committee.

~~~
taylodl
Yep. This is well-researched. Some things simply _have_ to be done - like
unloading the dishwasher and brushing your teeth. Having raised kids myself
I've seen this play out first-hand with several friends and acquaintances. It
always ends poorly from the standpoint that they get jobs as soon as they're
able and tell their parents to get bent on doing their chores. They never
learned some things just have to be done. The kids I've known raised this way
are also struggling with relationships - everything in their life becomes a
transaction. What can you do for me? They're quite miserable people actually.

~~~
brador
Transactional obsession does create high performance capitalist units though.
Bill Gates, Jobs, and Zuck were all offered financial rewards for high grades
by their parents.

------
trentlott
The use of financial incentives often displace a _genuine_ interest and
motivation to do such things.

Be wary of applying it too broadly, I think.

~~~
Scaevolus
I'd be _extremely_ careful with attaching monetary values to every behavior
you want to encourage, since that can squash intrinsic motivation through the
overjustification effect.

You should brush your teeth because it's a healthy and comforting part of your
routine, not because you've decided $0.50 for 3 minutes of work is worth it.

