Reward system for teens

Many parents of teens struggle with how to create rewards that are good enough to motivate their teen to want to do better in school. Most parents feel worn out and burned out after trying with so many different types of rewards to motivate their teen. Parents come to me after everything they have tried has failed, and ask me: What can I do to create the right rewards for my teen? This is because many teens do not know the true value of a dollar. Many teens have never had a paying job, or had to pay for their bills. This is why I encourage all parents to help their teens get a small job.

Teens and tweens often exhibit poor behavior, balk at doing chores, and avoid participating as active members of the family. During this time of development, tweens and teens may keep to themselves or stay busy with friends. It's important for parents to keep kids motivated about other aspects of their lives, too. It seems counter-intuitive to use a reward system to get your child to perform well in school, take out the trash, and spend time with the family, but motivation is often linked to rewards, so give it a try.

Motivating your students to learn and to participate can be very hard. In order to stimulate learning and to motivate good behavior, lots of teachers use rewards for students. But watch out.

Teenagers often do things if the payoff is great, and the reason may come down to how their brains respond to rewards, a new study suggests. When teens receive money, or anticipate receiving it, their brains' pleasure center lights up more than it does in adults. The reason is not that teenagers value money more than adults, but more likely because teenage brains haven't finished maturing, researchers say.