Upon the realisation that the question is to be framed in terms of money, I would've found a way to out-do the school (or parents, or whichever source of $100/m

Upon the realisation that the question is to be framed in terms of money, I would've found a way to out-do the school (or parents, or whichever source of $100/mo) and make more than $100/mo doing something else at the expense of schoolwork just to spite them and make a point. I was a teenager, after all. If I were a B student before, I would've been a C- minus student as a result, but highly motivated to succeed at revenue-generating activities. :-) I would guess I'm not the only child who whose basic psychological response to a carrot predicated on an unattractive set of obligations would've been: (a) "Wow, that's really patronising," and (b) "Oh yeah? Well screw your $100. I'll either rationalise why I don't want it anyway and why everyone who goes for that scam is a sucker, or I'll make $200 blowing off schoolwork and laugh." I would also guess that being paid for achievement in school is attractive to some children because it is novel, unconventional, and socially differentiating. If it became the norm, all the kids that fail to find redemption and/or motivation in mainstream, generally-accepted prescriptions would become ambivalent to it as well. These are often the kids that could use the most academic help, as a practical matter. Are these the values we want to instill in otherwise ambitious children?