New York is trying a set of controversial measures to reduce
the number of F-A-M-A-L-I-E-S in poverty.
Bloomberg is going to reward families with cash for opening
savings accounts, saving a portion of their incomes,
making sure that their children are attending medical appointments
and for attending their children’s PTA meetings.
Don’t look at me LIKE THAT. I SAID it was controversial.
The money, at least in the beginning will be privately raised,
not tax dollars.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today in Brooklyn that the city was moving ahead with a bold anti-poverty experiment that will use private donations to pay 2,500 families $25 to $300 for meeting various targets ? better school attendance, higher test scores ? up to a total of $5,000 a year.
People WERE still B*tching about tax dollars being used.
This is, in effect, using citizens? tax dollars to bribe other citizens into being good citizens. It sounds ok on paper, but NYC is not a business, it?s a community. Where do you draw the line with such a concept? Do you pay troubled youths not to commit crime? Do you pay drug dealers to sell Snickers bars on the street corner instead of drugs? What?s in it for those of us who just work hard, pay our taxes and want a better life for our children? Oh wait, that?s what we are expected to do, so there?s no money in it for us.
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idea of giving low income kids cellphones and minutes to
rewarding them for doing well in school.
You should have seen the comments section.
KIDS NEED TO LEARN FOR LEARNING SAKE.
What are we going to do, give them a car next?
Blar, Blar, f*cking Blar.
So I have been sitting on this article for a couple of weeks now
until I saw ANOTHER ARTICLE ON White middle class parents
and how their CHILDREN EARN internet time by practicing
piano, completing homework,etc.
When the children want to use their allowance, though, they don?t go to the mall. They turn on the family?s computer or television because there?s a parallel economy in place at the Sherman home, with a currency most often known as ?screen time.?
Screen time can be spent playing computer games, watching TV or movies or, for older children, visiting social networking sites like MySpace or instant messaging with friends. This new currency, used in a growing number of households, works as an allowance because screen time is highly valued by children and teenagers, and usually restricted by parents.
All I could think was ain’t this a b*tch. Where are the outraged
reader comments NOW?
I guess lil Black/Brown children are not suppose to be motivated
by incentives. LOL.
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Why is there more acceptance for Learning While White?
Why did the commenter STILL think that TAX dollars were being used?
Would you do your homework and try to get better grades if it meant free minutes?
Sh*t I WOULD DO YOUR homework for free cell minutes. LOL. My cell
bill be higher than a giraffe’s ass.
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i. learning while white
duh, m. dot. everything is more acceptable if you’re white! looting & pillaging stores for food post katrina, becomes trying to survive. invading another country to impose your brand of “democracy” becomes freedom fighting. killing off an entire group of people & jacking them for their land gets you a holiday.
ii. the stupid commenter
clearly, he couldn’t read…or didn’t read the whole thing and ASSumed it was going to be funded by tax dollars. he forgot bloomberg is a member of the billionaire boys club.
iii. homework for money
umm, yeah! my parents gave me money if i got good grades on my report card. A’s earned me dubs, B’s got 10s, C’s didn’t get me shit lol. i quickly learned i needed to be on my A game. extrinsic motivation usually becomes intrinsic after you see the result. soon, i began studying hard and working my ass off just to do well.
i think people are too idealistic. they want kids to learn for the hell of it, which is IDEAL, but not always the reality in improvised communities when being smart isn’t cool or won’t (immediately) pay the bills. hence the reason we look up to hustlers more than scholars. fast money.
but the thing about monetary/material motivation is that it occurs throughout your life. when you do good at work, you want a raise, so why not do good at school and get something out of it? perhaps then we’d have more colored kids forming study groups instead of gangs.
but the thing about monetary/material motivation is that it occurs throughout your life. when you do good at work, you want a raise,
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Thats so real.
Because if YOU WANT THEM TO FIRE YOu be acting up ALL KINDA WAYS.
M. Dot.
I always want to agree with you!
BUT.
How are you gonna compare those two articles? One article talks about the GOVERNMENT giving MONETARY rewards for doing good in school, while the other article talks about PARENTS giving SCREEN TIME for doing good in school. That is such a big difference.
On the other hand, as a white male still in his youth, I agree that there is more of an acceptance to what we do for no fucking reason at all, other then the simple fact that my ancestors and “elders” are so simple minded and stuck in there ways that they can’t see past color still.
Something I am hoping for, and actually see slowly transpiring in my generation is the increase of friendly race relations. Not to say that there still isn’t an invisible barrier keeping us from all being hippies and loving everyone, but looking around, the majority of the groups of friends that clique up are almost always multi-racial. The number of interracial couples seem to be increasing to. In fact, I don’t think i know a single couple that is NOT interracial.
Then again, i do live in a pretty progressive state that is so close to the border, but i still think it is getting better. I’m sure out in Alabama there are still gonna be those racist fuckers living there lives in ignorance for decades to come, but pretty soon they’ll die out from fucking their sisters and having special babies and shooting each other in hunting accidents.
Okay.
I’m done with my rant.
One article talks about the GOVERNMENT giving MONETARY rewards for doing good in school, while the other article talks about PARENTS giving SCREEN TIME for doing good in school. That is such a big difference.
======================================
I’m a black male, and I say the exact same thing. When I was a kid, my paents gave me money fro good grades, not the government. It’s not the government’s job to raise kids and teach them the importance of education; it’s the parents’ job to do that. While I’m not entirely against students receiving compensation for getting better grades, pretty soon it goes from being “that extra something” to being something that they’re supposed to get.
Bottom line is this: its the parents job to raise their own damn kids, like my parents did with me and my sister. I mean, damn, you can only throw so much money at a problem until you’re throwing good money after bad.
a. PUBLIC FUNDS ARE NOT BEING USED.
B.It interesting that you all think that the government has no responsibility to provide assistance to families in need.
I find it VERY darwinian when I start hearing that YACK about “the gubment ain’ poss to do it….just families”…..
No one makes it alone. AND if you don’t want a 16 year old jacking you for your shit….you MIGHT be interested in Making sure he knows how to read at 7.
Jail= 35K a year.
Rehab= 6300K a year.
Community College= 10-15K a year.
WHAT DO YOU WANNA PAY FOR.
CUZ you ARE going to pay.
In fact, I think I am going to do a list of low income, mid income and high income government subsidies so I can just link to that page.
First of all, let me just say that I love your website, but I NEVER said that government funds are being used…the mayor, being the head of New York’s government, is involved behind the scenes with the organization of this program, so that means that there is government involvement. And in your own language:
“The money, at least in the beginning will be privately raised,
not tax dollars.”
While that doesn’t mean that tax dollars will NEVER be used, that also means that this program may not be privately funded forever. Having said that, I commend the mayor for wanting to get involved where a lot of people would just say “fuck it, let ’em rot.” I’m entirely free to think that his heart is in the right place, while at the same time thinking that this program is just a band-aid over the gunshot wound that is Black America’s underlying problems. And when its all said and done, rich white people making sure that poor black people do what they should have already been doing is demeaning to me.
Also, I never said that the government has NO responsibility to provide assistance to families in need. In fact, I think it does. But that responsibility doesn’t extend into infinity. When it comes to things such as job training programs, economic assistance (TANF, etc.) I think that government plays a very important and much needed role.
When it comes to parents being involved in their children’s education, that’s not something that the government can force. The bottom line is that it’s the parents’ jobs to see that their children do well in schools. If parents don’t have the motivation or desire to become actively involved in their children’s education, then maybe we should add condoms and birth control pills to the list of things that are publicly funded. The carrot on the stick approach works well for a while, but again it’s a band-aid over a bullet wound.
In addition, I never said that the burden should fall on “just families.” I think that it does take a village to raise a child, but I don’t think that it takes a mayor. The main problem with us is that we think it’s “acting white” if we value education, and that’s a damn shame because a few decades ago, some kids in Arkansas damn near died for the chance to “act white.”
Also, I never said that “no one makes it alone.” a lot of people have had a lot of help, myself included. I went to college on a scholarship, and it saved me a lot of money. But everybody in jail doesn’t belong in college. And if anyone tries to jack me, then I hate it for his family (I’m from GA, that’s how we roll down here. Pleezebelieve that we tote).
And it’s a well known fact that a sliver of the government’s bugdet is actually spend on what is known as “welfare, ” even though that is not the popular perception. Having said that, just throwing more money at the problem (whether the money is from public or private funds) is not the answer. But I’d still like to see the website, though.
Diddly D….
I am glad you like the site.
I appreciate your comments.
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When it comes to parents being involved in their children’s education, that’s not something that the government can force.
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Never said force.
The payments are an incentive.
Money is not being THROWN at the problem.
It is based on the Mexican Program “Opportunidades”.
http://mexico.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2007/04/
“New York City Mayor Examines Mexican Anti-poverty Program
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Toluca, Mexico this week to learn about the Oportunidades anti-poverty program. Serving approximately 25 million people, Opportunidades is Mexico?s conditional cash transfer program and principal anti-poverty initiative. The program awards cash grants to economically disadvantaged families for keeping their children in school and providing them with healthcare. The focus on breaking the cycle of poverty by taking a long-term approach has gained praise from the World Bank and several countries that have looked to it as a model. Now, New York City is doing the same.”
I AM DOWN WITH PROVEN MEASURES THAT
BREAK THE CYCLE OF POVERTY.
AND IF MY TAX MONEY PAYS FOR IT, then so be it.
OUR taxes pays for,
trash
water
popo
firefighters
teachers
wars
bridges
Tax Breaks for the Wealthy
ETC…
WHY not Assisting the Power
with reducing the cycle of poverty
with PROVEN methods.
Also, I never said that “no one makes it alone.” a lot of people have had a lot of help, myself included. I went to college on a scholarship, and it saved me a lot of money. But everybody in jail doesn’t belong in college.
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you’re right, everybody in jail doesn’t belong in college, BUT, everybody in jail should have had the opportunity.
i get it!
so the government should only get involved when handing out grants and scholarships? isn’t that FREE INCENTIVE MONEY to go to college??? what about providing incentives for kids not yet college-age to try to encourage them to DREAM for college? i guess that don’t matter. everybody doesn’t have a parent cheering them on (trust. i see it EVERY day of the week). so what’s so wrong with a mayor using HIS connections and PRIVATE funds to motivate OUR kids to achieve?
When it comes to parents being involved in their children’s education, that’s not something that the government can force.
===============
what happens when there are no parents? then what? the kid just doesn’t collect $200 & goes straight to jail?
maybe we should add condoms and birth control pills to the list of things that are publicly funded.
=============
sweety, these are already publically funded. go to any clinic in compton, brooklyn, cleveland, chicago…you can get that shit. has it made a damn bit of difference? we still have parentless kids, parents who don’t know how to parent, and a need to educate our youth. if one of my students turns in all their homework and passes every test JUST because they know they will get $60…so be it. at the end of the day they have learned and THAT is more valuable than any monetary gift we can offer.
what happens when there are no parents?
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GO to San Quentin and sign your registration sheet.