Each year at the school, the kids participate in Jump Rope for Heart (for American Heart Association). I like the concept of getting the kids engaged in charity and helping others, however there's room for improvement on the way it's managed within the school. Here's how it works: when you exceed certain $ thresholds, the kids are awarded with a cool rubber duck -- and the more $$ you raise, the more ducks for your lanyard (along with a bonus toy).
First off, if they are going to push this on the kids, the most important thing is that they understand why. I suspect 9 out of 10 kids think this is contest to wrap as many cheap rubber ducks around their necks as possible. 2nd, teach the kids how to go about reaching out to others for a good cause and why a donation can help.
We made our kids send emails out to family, which generated some cash flow. However once that income stream fizzled, the toy ducks came to a screeching halt. So as the month progressed, we'd hear all about the kids with way more ducks (and how they bragged about it to boot). At this point we'd remind our kids about where the money was going and it's not about the ducks -- in addition, we let them know they could always reach out to more people to help this cause.
So while this charitable debacle is taking place, the kids with less ducks then feel left out -- see where this is going? This makes its way home to the parents, and with a good sob story, the parents dig deeper in their pockets. At this point there's no longer any recollection of where this money is going, other than to spend +$100 on 6 rubber ducks worth a dollar.
At the end of all this, the kids then find out whose parents paid the most money who in their class raised the most money for this forgotten cause. To summarize, the activity makes kids feel as though they need to be like their friends -- promoting peer pressure and the need to fit in, while majority of parents fuel the fire and make it easy for them. Institutionalizing un-education...
