Literacy is one of the cornerstones of our children's education. We all want our kids to read books, as many as they can, preferably. However, some children weren't born book lovers, so some parents take different measures to get their children to read. This is the case for one dad who pays his son one dollar for every book that he reads. After posting about it on the internet, people are divided on what he is doing is right or wrong.
David Woodland never actually expected his tweet to "go viral." Well, most people don't. But Woodland posted on his Twitter account, "We pay my oldest $1 every time he reads a book. We’re talking 160-page chapter books. I’m out $120 this year and he thinks he’s ripping me off. Best investment ever."
He ends it with a cry-laugh emoji. His tweet had over half a million likes, and when it was posted on Reddit, made a huge impact over there when people were posting the tweet. His son is 8 years old.
Woodland says he has a second trick, too. His son is allowed to stay up late, but only if it is for reading a book, nothing else. The crazy thing about all of this hullabaloo is that some people are upset that Woodland is "paying" his child to do "basic life duties," and that paying him is "taking away the motivation" for his child to read on his own. Woodland admits the idea was his wife's idea in the first place, but he loves it, and has said that he would pay his son one dollar for as long as he keeps reading.
He is extremely proud of his son's growing vocabulary and all of the books that his son has already read, while his son is proud of the money that he has accrued. But many are divided on the fact that he is paying his son to read, worrying that Woodland's son is going to stop reading after he doesn't get paid anymore.
But then there are plenty of people on the other side of the argument, as well. They believe that this is a great idea to foster a future love of books in a child. One person, who is a clinical psychologist thinks that this is a wonderful idea because she says "reading is reading." She said that there will come a point where the child will love reading for the sake of reading, so she thinks this is a great point to start at.
Some parents even took the idea and used it for themselves on their own children. One woman even made a makeshift board where her child can write in the title of what book they read, and the dollar that they made off of each book. Finally, it has a section if her children needed any help with that particular book.
Finally, there are the adults that grew up with parents who had implemented a similar system for them. Some did not like reading at all, and when their parents paid them to read, they eventually found a love of reading and now can average approximately 60 books a year.
David ended with a tweet saying that he had no idea that "encouraging reading" would be such a controversial topic. He pointed out that his son is great at academics and wonderful in sports. But most of all, he is a great big brother, son, and friend. Woodland said that he is "proud to be his dad" and told the haters that his son will be okay, and not to worry about his kid.