Mulling over George Pope to STEVE ASHER 31 May 2005

Hi George,

SA> p2pnet.net News:- School authorities in Glasgow, Scotland, are
SA> trying to get kids to eat properly by bribing them with points
SA> that can eventually be traded for gear such as Xboxes or iPods.

 GP> Incentive programs for kids to get them to do what they should do
 GP> anyway! 

Hmmm... I found a BBC item at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4565923.stm
which explains that the scheme is voluntary (of course!), but pupils are
given swipecards to use to get points for eating "sensibly", instead of
sneaking out for fish & chips or McDonalds (which will probably offer a
swipecard & reward them with plastic trinkets for not eating
"sensibly").

The school authority wants to be seen to "incentify" the scheme, instead
of being seen as people who ban things. By creating the verb "to incentify"
from "incentive", they can deadify two birds with one stone (or swipecard).

 GP> So this one seems particularly stupid -- those whose parents can
 GP> afford to buy them lunches regularly(and, one assumes, can buy
 GP> Xboxes & iPods) get MORE economic privilege, while those who are in
 GP> the lower economic brackets, get squat as usual!

The most popular menu item is "Vital Mix", with soup, filled
pitta, yoghourt
and a healthy drink - worth 40 points, so it takes 100 of these to get an
iPod.

 GP> They're giving kids extra credit for everything -- why, I heard
 GP> that a kid in Detroit got extra credit for leaving the safety on!

 GP> When I was a kid, there was a great incentive program -- if I
 GP> didn't get good grades & attend daily, I got my ass kicked by my
 GP> dad!

That was a pretty effective motivator :)

Cheers, Steve..

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