Many parents wonder what their children do and who they speak to on the internet. They wonder what kind of people they interact with on the internet, and if their online activities are interfering with their school work. Some kids spend hours on Facebook, their real lives taking a backseat. Would you bribe your child to stay off Facebook?
North Carolina mom, Melynda Rushing, paid her daughter, Alyssa, $300 to stay off Facebook for a month. Alyssa would spend about four hours a day on Facebook, time that could be spent on her college studies. Melynda offered Alyssa $300 to give up the social media site for a month, in an effort to encourage her daughter to focus more time on her studies.
Instead of teaching Alyssa to stand on her own and maybe even learning from her mistakes, Melynda has offered money. It seems like an easy way out -- instead of confronting her daughter, she has offered money to make her point. What is that teaching Alyssa? Do something positive and you are rewarded with cash? What about hard work being it's own reward?
© Marie Gallagher 2010
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Comments: 15
but if there was one person in my life that i thought was addicted to Facebook, it wouldnt be my kid brother or sister, it would be my dad...
I understand her motives but I think it was the wrong move.
1. Her daughter could still be going on facebook, its not hard to mask what you are doing.
2. Her daughter will not learn that there are consequences for her actions.
3. Her daughter is of the age that she needs to be responsible for what she does. Giving her money to stay off facebook while understandable, I think that there are better alternatives than bribing.
Does bribing really solve anything? Not really.
Mooch