Honest junior high school students

Appropriate in all ways.

(...)

Seconded. I got one of those calls (and my wallet returned with all contents) about 25 years ago. It fell out as I was changing a tire.

To this day, I regret not rewarding the honest people who called me. (I figured I couldn't afford to reward them beyond saying 'thank you'.)

Please consider the feelings of the honest student and keep the reward private, a 'thank you' between you, the student and parents. That kid would get razzed mercilessly if it became generally known that they had a chance to behave like a corporate senior manager and passed it up.

--Winston

Hey Lucky........errrr....Iggy,

Good fortune smiles on you. Did you get that chain-letter promising good stuff the other day!?!?! You too could do a testimonial now!!

Anyway, I think that you should ask him/her and one of his/her friends and maybe take the teacher as a chaperone, along with your son, to a 'burg & fries or something at Micky Dee's or some such. Give the honest kid a bit of recognition amongst his/her set, rather than strictly a monetary appreciation.

Take care.

Brian Laws>I received a call from our local Junior High, where my second grader's

Absolutely not. Do it.

I have already made up a brown envelope to hand over.

Always reward honest, positive behavior. Especially in youngsters. I once followed a trail of $1 and $5 bills down the sidewalk. $45 worth. Of course, I had no way to know who, why, or how this bizarre situation happened, but chalked it up to good fortune and added it to my fortune. :) JR Dweller in the cellar

Ignoramus28897 wrote:

I found a purse once with several hundred dollars in, and I was offered a reward, which I refused. So the lady brought me a cake. Even though the cake cost less than the reward would have been, it meant more to me and is still remembered. The money would have blended into what I already had, and stood out less. To a school kid, though, a cash reward probably means a lot more. How about giving both?

No, but my long forgotten Nigerian uncle just left me a big inheritance. I seem to have a lot of such uncles.

This, I think goes a little bit against "concerns about socializing with random kids", plus what if it is a girl, a whole new dimension. Whereas money is money.

What if the kid does not eat cake. I do not eat cake. For over 5 years, have not eaten anything like cake or candy or ice cream. I think money like $20 means a lot to a junior high student and has the least strings attached.

I would only reward him ($20) with his parents knowledge. I used to hire local kids (local to wherever I was working) to watch my surveying gear as I stepped away 50 or so feet. Would give them $10 to stand around for about a half hour. Got in trouble several times from parents. "Don't you be giving my kid money without my knowing". While I thought that was extreme, I do see their point.

Deliver the money to the kids home and hand it over in front of the parents. They should be PROUD!!!!

Ivan Vegvary

I'd interested in what part of the country and what year that was. It's pretty much just the opposite of what I've seen.

Yes, appropriate, and thank them for not being a dishonest Democrat!

RogerN

Your reward to them and your recognition of them should be PUBLIC.

Napoleon , it is said, once remarked that if he had enough ribbons and medals he could conquer all the known world. Praise and recognition should public, recriminations as privately as possible.

Good for the teen, good for your soul.

Flash

Oakland, CA African American neighborhood and African American kids. I think a possible issue was the "Don't you come around here (whitey) and mess with our (black) kids" attitude. While I always try to hire youth I will admit that my motives were selfish. If you don't hire some of them, all your equipment gets stolen by the same ones you didn't hire. This is probably true of any 'rough' neighborhood regardless of color.

Ivan Vegvary

Now it makes sense. I lived for years, a couple blocks from MacArthur and Grand. Never tried it in the hood...

Don't get me wrong, I think Oakland is a pretty amazing place and I miss it sometimes. OTOH, there is also some serious shit to overcome.

I disagree. A reward should be in whatever form most honors the recipient. Having had a couple of children survive high school in recent years, rewarding the finder privately is by far the better option -- any public recognition is more likely to do harm than good.

How about this idea. Instead of a $20 bill, swing by the bank and get some of those gold dollars. I get these for tipping waitresses and I tend to be remembered more than if I left a dollar bill when I go in the next time. Also if you time your arrival at the school to arrive just before the lunch hour, they will probably have no problem summoning the kid to the office to be rewarded personally rather than getting an envelope.

Something is wrong with the parents of those kids. There is a big difference between what you did and lets say some pervert offering a kid some money to get into his car and help him go find a lost puppy. In your case the kid was already on the scene and was not lured to go anywhere, nor was the time the kid was asked to work something that would cause a conflict with parental concern.

I would have no problem continuing that practice, and if a parent complained in the future I would suggest to them that if they had a problem with there kids earning an honest buck that they instruct there kids to decline any offers of this kind of employment.