Giving your kids cash rewards can affect them negatively

It is common to see parents promising their children one thing or the other - if they get good results in an examination, do their homework or house chores (at the right time). What is promised varies; toys, games, ice cream, and even cash. The list is endless.

Parental advisers and financial experts say such parents often make these promises to their kids in order to keep them in line. Such parents, they explain, do so believing that they are just rewarding or motivating the children to behave properly. A child protection specialist and Consultant to UNICEF on Child Protection, Taiwo Akinlami, says to the extent that it is not bribe or all about money, it is okay for parents to reward their children every now and then."We talk to parents or custodians of children about the principle of 'carrot and stick'. Now, if you want a child to do something. You can either use 'carrot' or 'stick'. 'Carrot' is to encourage the child, while 'stick' is to discipline the child," he says.

According to him, when parents reward the child, they are trying to use positive enforcement to tell the child to perform.He adds, "The truth of the matter is that when you use positive enforcement, it has more positive impact on the child than when you use negative enforcement."However, while experts agree that parents have to device a way of rewarding and punishing their children for good and bad behaviour, respectively, they warn that care must be taken as this strategy can backfire, especially for parents who frequently use such rewards, particularly cash, as the main means of getting their kids to perform any function or get anything done.

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