It started last November when a flyer came home about the Book It reading program. Like many schools in the Bay Area, ours had partnered with Pizza Hut for a reading rewards program. If my son read for 15 minutes every day in the month, then he could get a coupon for a free personal pizza. From the start I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of rewarding with food. Especially bad, unhealthy food.
Let’s face it, the ultimate goal of rewarding children is to help them internalize the positive behavior. Sure, many of us used a jelly bean or an M&M to get our toddler to pee in the potty (in our house it was stamps, stickers, and when I got really desperate, Thomas trains). But we also know that rewarding children in the home or in the classroom does not need to involve food.
There are big risks when rewarding with food. The obvious is establishing potentially bad eating habits or over-eating. But my bigger concern about rewarding reading with a high-fat, low-nutrient, fast-food pizza is that we are teaching the kids to reward themselves with food. Which in turn connects food with mood. And for those of us who’ve eaten a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food when our boyfriend dumped us in college know that it’s a dangerous game to establish your eating habits based on how your feeling.
By giving children empty calories as a reward for good behavior, we are saying "Here is something unhealthy for you because you behaved so well." Or in this case, “because you read every day for 15 minutes.” Does this make sense?
We participated that first month in November. And then we went to a Pizza Hut with a few friends from his class the following month to redeem our prize. Afterwards, I told my son that this was a one-shot deal. While it was fun to have a pizza party with friends and it was even more fun to read, that we wouldn’t be coming back to Pizza Hut again.
My son still has to read for 15 minutes a day. That has to happen no matter what external rewards program the school offers. Because I know that the real reward my son gets from reading is READING. Of getting lost in a book or learning about new Stars Wars characters. Of reading about our country’s history or the magical world of Harry Potter. Of becoming a life-long lover of books. Reading is the reward. It’s the only reward that matters. He doesn’t need a slice of pizza to figure that out.
March is National Reading Month. In honor of National Reading Month take some time to share a story with someone you love. You may very will inspire a lifelong reader!
Original post for the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog
