What do you think about rewards for children at church? We give trophies and points and gift certificates and prizes for all kinds of activities done under the church roof–bringing friends to activities, memorizing Bible verses, bringing Bibles along with us to Sunday school, even for just being there (I grew up in an era when, at the end of my childhood days, I had a long string of pins and add-ons that I’d been given for “perfect attendance” at Sunday school).
There is something motivating about the prize–the ribbon, the medal, the trophy, the points. (We’ve just spent two weeks watching grown-ups from around the world who have given it all for the gold, the silver, and the bronze.) And that, presumably, is why we offer rewards or incentives to those to Sunday school kids. I’m not against it, even though we live in an age when competition is a dirty word in some arenas. Actually, I don’t really see the kind of thing I’m asking about here as competition; competition is what we do, in a friendly way, among the Bible quiz teams that I’m involved with as a coach. This thing I’m talking about is definitely more in the realm of motivation and incentive.
So, that’s enough to go on–this is probably not a totally foreign subject to anyone reading this, so you know of what I speak. But, in the church, what should be the guiding principle(s) when it comes to “awards”? If you can give a bottom line–or a pseudo bottom line, that which we should NOT be striving for–I’d like to hear it.
Young kids especially might not see the value in memorization of verses, so the awards as incentive could be a valuable tool in getting the Word into young hearts. Then you hope, as they get older, the kids, probably with mom and dad’s help and guidance, they see the value and don’t need the awards any more.
I agree with Stacey. I know that I enjoyed earning the little stickers on the attendance chart when I was little.
I believe you might have sent a similar email my direction (as well as others) a year or two ago. And it really got me thinking. Something about what would it look like if we did that for adults… I still haven’t come to a solid conclusion. I think for some kids, it might be the little boost they need and for others – it really could distract from the real purpose of coming together to learn and fellowship. There are so many factors, such as age and disposition.