rewards range from small monetary gifts to eating out at their favorite fast food. The promise of a reward also serves as a challenge for children to study hard. For example, Myla (A) shared that she would promise her son 50 pesos (1 USD) if he gets a perfect score in the test. But she added, “I actually don’t give him the money; rather, he lists it down, and I would give him the money on payday. He takes note of it, and when it’s his Papa’s payday, he will collect it… His Papa also said that when gets even higher grades, he will buy him a cellphone.” Kris (A) shared that when she sees her son working hard, she would sometimes buy him new clothes or treat him out at a fast food if she has extra money. Christy (A) also discussed making sure that her daughter gets rewarded for her efforts in school. She recalled:
Her Papa buys her pizza (her favorite) … Another example, when she was in second grade, she was at the top of her class so we were gonna let her join the field trip. But then she said she wanted us to get her a tablet instead… Her Papa
bought her a tablet, he loaned some money from someone… There are puzzles there (on the tablet), and also words that you would arrange, so she gets to learn. Twelve participants mentioned that they treat the children at Jollibee, a local fast food chain akin to McDonald’s in the U.S., as a reward. Emie (A) recounted that when her daughter needs to study, she would tell her, “Study hard, I will buy you this, we will eat out, we’ll go to Jollibee.” This is similar to Aida’s (A) case about her granddaughter who is at the top of her class, “My husband and I, we’re always at Jollibee because when she gets a perfect exam score, we have an agreement… We’ll buy our dinner from
Jollibee.” Ivy (C) mentioned that her husband promises their son that he will take him out and that they will eat at Jollibee. Her husband would say, “Okay, son, if you get high grades, I’ll find a way, we will eat at Jollibee.” Her husband follows through with this promise, Ivy added. Chloe (C) shared that she only gives rewards sometimes, “When the grades are high, I would tell my daughter that I would buy her this, that… Usually she’d just ask me to buy her food… She likes food, she likes Jollibee. If I have money, we’d really go to Jollibee.” Elsa (B) shared that when her son gets high grades, he would also just ask for snacks as a reward, like a cupcake.
When asked if she gives rewards, Sonia (A) replied, “Yes, I give rewards. Especially when I was still working, I would tell her, ‘Baby, I’ll give you money… I’ll give you chocolates… We’ll eat at Jollibee… I’ll give you a tablet.’” Sonia (A) added that she believes this is effective, “They (children) see it as a challenge, especially if there’s an exam. I would tell them I want no more than five mistakes on their test, like that.” On the other hand, Trina (A) said that she also uses rewards for her daughter, especially when she wants something, but she makes sure that there are limits, “We don’t
do it (giving rewards) all the time… It’s not like that, that we’d always give them something. Because what will happen if you don’t have anything to give?... You don’t have to get them used to getting something each time they get high grades, right?”
Below are some more responses from the participants regarding the use of rewards:
I would tell my son, “Work hard, son… I want you to be included in the top, even just top ten. You would have a reward from me, your Papa said he’ll buy you a cellphone.” Because he really wanted to have a cellphone. – Jane (C)
I would tell my daughter, “Make your grades even higher… If you get an 80, I will buy you something…” Sometimes she would like a toy, so I would tell her I would buy her that. Or she would say, “Ma, I don’t have slippers anymore.” I’d say, “Okay, study hard so that we can buy those slippers.” – Karen (C)
For example, my daughter would say, “Mama, there’s a beautiful watch there at the market.” And I’d say, “Okay, if you write a lot (on your notebook) tomorrow, I will buy you that.” And she gets a lot of writing done. It’s effective, it really helps. – Monica (C)
In all, the responses show that parents give rewards to encourage their children and to reinforce positive behaviors toward studying. The promise of a reward also serves as an agreement between the parent and the child. Although most of the parents reported experiencing financial constraints, giving simple incentives, such as food and other basic
necessities enables them to balance their limited budget and desire to reward their children.
3.4. Administering punishment for poor academic outcomes. Participants also try