It's obvious after reading posts like Marisa's ode to Philly Water Ice that the treat is a well-deserved one after a long, hot day in the city.
But should we be using it - along with pizza and candy - to bribe Philly youth?
In West Philly's 19th District, police will begin an initiative called "positive ticketing," in which they will award prizes (see: candy and junk food) to kids they see doing "good deeds" like helping elderly citizens across the street, or cleaning up a neighborhood block. So far, local businesses like 7-Eleven, Applebee's, Lucky Pizza, and Rita's Water Ice have donated food or gift certificates to the program.
It's important to encourage kids to do good deeds. But there are several problems I see with this method.
-The most obvious: should we really be teaching children that good deeds are rewarded with junk food? Not only is this unhealthy, but it instills an unrealistic ideal in kids that they should only do nice things for people when it benefits them, instead of simply doing good things for people because it is the right thing to do.
-"Good deed" is an awfully objective term. What appears to be a kid going above and beyond to one person might look like a normal, expected task to another.
-What happens when one kid among a group is awarded a treat, but their friends aren't? Wouldn't this just encourage unwanted jealously and aggressiveness toward the "good" kid?
-What if there's a chance to do something good for someone else, but there are no police officers to be seen? Will the kid still lend a helping hand, or eschew the chance because there's no reward?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-15-2008 @ 5:36PM
Julie said...
In a perfect world you would hope that children would automatically do something just for the sake of doing them because they need to be done....heck, I could say the same thing for a great many adults as well.But if one must take to bribing maybe we could come up with something other than food.
http://www.noshtalgia.blogspot.com/
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6-15-2008 @ 5:36PM
jrsygir1 said...
do you have kids?
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6-15-2008 @ 5:39PM
Ellen Slattery said...
Jrsygir1,
I'm not sure if your question was posed to me or Julie, but I thought I'd answer anyway:
No, I do not have children. However, in this case, I'm referring not to how people deal with their own children, but how police in Philadelphia are going about this new initiative. Just wanted to clarify.
Ellen
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6-15-2008 @ 5:43PM
lizandrsn said...
I have two children. From the day they entered the public school system, the teachers have used sugary treats to reward their behavior. Some teachers don't allow birthday treats, so that they (the teachers) get to control the rewards and sugars.
This program is a lot along the lines of Halloween. We spend 364 days a year telling our kids not to take candy from strangers, and now you have the Police handing it out.
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6-15-2008 @ 8:30PM
Eric Braun said...
I think the police and other public servants have a hard enough time building a positive relationship with kids without foodies giving them a hard time for handing out candy.
I'm sure it's not like they are going to be handing out enormous sums of candy, so a special treat for doing some random act of kindness is okay by me.
Sure, it'd be better if they were handing out some healthy snack, but candy is typically more portable and carries more cache' with kids.
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6-15-2008 @ 11:20PM
alphaeden said...
if it worked for kung fu panda...
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6-15-2008 @ 11:56PM
jrsygir1 said...
speaking as someone who raised her kids in "the hood", there were kids who didnt get breakfast, discipline, attention, holiday presents, praise, shoes, vacations, attention, affection, or much of anything else....give them candy for good deeds....you become a god to them....and i imagine they are a lot less likely to grow up and shoot you.
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6-16-2008 @ 6:22AM
edwin said...
Here's something that's full of fun, fruit and phonics. '123 it's a
fruity abc' is a pre school, early learning DVD that encourages young
kids to learn and enjoy fruit at the same time. Kids as young as 15
months are joining in and repeating the letter sounds and words.
There are clips available on the website http://www.123fruityabc.com,
You Tube, myspace and Amazon. ENJOY!
Reply
6-16-2008 @ 6:25AM
edwin said...
Here's something that's full of fun, fruit and phonics. '123 it's a
fruity abc' is a pre school, early learning DVD that encourages young
kids to learn and enjoy fruit at the same time. Kids as young as 15
months are joining in and repeating the letter sounds and words.
There are clips available on the website http://www.123fruityabc.com,
You Tube, myspace and Amazon. ENJOY!
Reply
6-16-2008 @ 11:44AM
Baron said...
As much as I hate to say it, I feel that most of the "good" that gets done in the world is not done of pure good intentions. Every place I have worked has offered some kind of reward if you donated so much of your time to a charity (or money instead of time), every time I give blood I get a T-shirt and/or entered into some big contest, bring a canned good to a concert and get a % off the ticket cost, holding huge galas for big charities, etc. etc. I can't see how it is any different with kids. I was, at one point, very concerned with our place in the world based on our real intention for doing good, but, in the end, I think the good things done far outweigh the intentions behind why they are done. I'd rather live in a place where everyone is doing good b/c it fulfills some self need, then where everyone is filling that self need by doing something un-beneficial.
I know this is a broad generalization. I know that all of us are capable (sometimes we actually follow through too) of doing good deeds with absolutely no intention behind them, but I don't think it is very often.
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