A bit of a dilemma - advice please

[FROSTY:Me]

Thanks guys you are validating my thinking.
A reward for busting his arse all week is due no question there. just not THE reward.

[Grasshopperus]

If that was the deal then stick to it, by going back on it you're showing him he doesn't need to stick to any "deal" and can still be rewarded

Perhaps set some different criteria, but don't make it to easy or rewards will just become expected all the time

Future potential sponsors will be a lot less forgiving to a racer who expects everything for nothing.

not everyone is capable of high results, but everyone is capable of trying hard...reward that!

AMEN!!!! This is so true.

I read a paper about this sort of thing a while ago, one of the interesting they observed was that some kids in a class had lots of fun painting for no reason. Then they began to extrinsically reward the children for painting, and so the children started to paint a lot more. Then the rewards stopped, and so did the painting.

There's a name for this effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overjustification_effect

The best thing to reward is effort not results.

$0.02

[NinjaNanna]

I think there is a middle ground here, in the real world, education makes things easier, better pay, better opportunity etc, etc.

But in the real world there are also lots of people that get by/ get ahead with out a great education - the difference being they typically have to work harder at it.

So here's a plan, agree on a $price for the 150, buy the boy something small (like the QUAD) that he needs to work on then sells, he then buys something else, works on it and sells again (get the point), if you do it right after perhaps the 3rd or 4th project he then has the dollars to buy the 150 from you outright.

At that point he's then earned it and bought it with his own $$$, it's his to do whatever he wants with it, race, sell, crash, what ever.

Hopefully this teaches him that, hard work outside school can pay off to, but don't forget to point out that a little effort at school would have meant that he'd have earnt it much sooner. Much like real life really.

[Okey Dokey]

My gut instinct is to say stick to the original plan. But perhaps a lesser "treat" of some sort in honour of his real world achievemnts. Good luck!

EDIT: sorry, just saw you made decision Dec 19... I skipped ahead to post reply...

[Mikkel]

Just bear in mind not everyone is a potential A+ student - not even if they put in an A+ effort. Demanding the impossible has never brought out the best in anyone!

I don't know your boy or what his abilities are. But if you suspect that he has put in all the effort he possibly could, then letting him know that you expect more is going to cause more damage than good.

In any circumstance, having the bike sitting around doing nothing is a waste. Possibly tell him to work to earn the money to keep it running, but support him in everything else.

[imdying]

So the quandry for me is -do I stick to my guns to make sure he pulls his socks up next year ?
Or reward him in a tangable way for his effort?

Yes... the rewards for last weeks effort is having a go on the race bike offered again as a reward for getting results in the first term of the new year. Tell him if he slacks off between now and the start of school, then that offer will no longer be on the cards.

Stick to your guns, he'll get more out of it in the long term.

[Forest]

Give him the bike.

Then tell him that if his grades are good next year, you'll give him the engine.

[avgas]

Give him the bike.

Then tell him that if his grades are good next year, you'll give him the engine.

I love this one.
When I think about it - this is exactly what my dad did.
Gave me a box of TS185 parts. For every hour of my time on the orchard he would give me an hour of his time on the bike.
We had it complete in 6 months.

[FROSTY:Me]

well he's been hooning in the latest addition to the kids collection. A grass kart.