I paid my son to run for student council

[Anonymous]

It's fine - I wouldn't tell my friends about it though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's fine - I wouldn't tell my friends about it though

+1

How much did you pay him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pros:
- Leadership role/experience
- Better resume/college app
- Teachers take him a little more seriously
- Got him out of his comfort zone
- Gets to be around sharp peers (council members)

Cons
- ?

Cons: my mommy will pay me to motivate me, so why should I really try for anything if I know she'll pay me to do it.

I guess another pro is that when he's 40, sitting around with a spouse, it'll make for a funny story at least about what a weird family he came from.

How much did you pay him?

[Anonymous]

It was more-so giving him a few things that he had wanted than cold hard cash. I'm not going to share what those things were because it would make him easy to identify if anyone from the school reads this.

[Anonymous]

How much are you going to pay him to marry the girl you like and not the one you don't like? How much are you going to pay him if he wants to marry a boy and you want him to marry a girl?
Paying your child to be the person you want him to be could get expensive!

[Anonymous]

Sounds like they bought him a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was more-so giving him a few things that he had wanted than cold hard cash. I'm not going to share what those things were because it would make him easy to identify if anyone from the school reads this.

As if telling us he got a new Xbox and iPhone will identify you. Why bother starting a thread if you are going to get all quiet about it now.

I don't even disagree with you per se, just wanted to know his price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was more-so giving him a few things that he had wanted than cold hard cash. I'm not going to share what those things were because it would make him easy to identify if anyone from the school reads this.

As if telling us he got a new Xbox and iPhone will identify you. Why bother starting a thread if you are going to get all quiet about it now.

I don't even disagree with you per se, just wanted to know his price.

Sum total of the things was thousands of dollars, but some of the things he would have gotten anyways. He just got them all in June for winning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much are you going to pay him to marry the girl you like and not the one you don't like?

If only!

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a (better?) car and summer trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was more-so giving him a few things that he had wanted than cold hard cash. I'm not going to share what those things were because it would make him easy to identify if anyone from the school reads this.

As if telling us he got a new Xbox and iPhone will identify you. Why bother starting a thread if you are going to get all quiet about it now.

I don't even disagree with you per se, just wanted to know his price.

Sum total of the things was thousands of dollars, but some of the things he would have gotten anyways. He just got them all in June for winning.

Interesting. Based on your thread I asked my son (a freshman) if he would run if I paid him. He laughed and said no, and that I was weird. I certainly can't offer thousands, which might make him change his mind.

He is well liked and social in general, but doesn't care to participate in school activities. He'd rather stay home and watch Netflix, or just hang out with friends. Kind of frustrating.

[Anonymous]

So how are you going to motivate him to do a good job on Student Council since he really didn't want to do it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was more-so giving him a few things that he had wanted than cold hard cash. I'm not going to share what those things were because it would make him easy to identify if anyone from the school reads this.

As if telling us he got a new Xbox and iPhone will identify you. Why bother starting a thread if you are going to get all quiet about it now.

I don't even disagree with you per se, just wanted to know his price.

Sum total of the things was thousands of dollars, but some of the things he would have gotten anyways. He just got them all in June for winning.

Interesting. Based on your thread I asked my son (a freshman) if he would run if I paid him. He laughed and said no, and that I was weird. I certainly can't offer thousands, which might make him change his mind.

He is well liked and social in general, but doesn't care to participate in school activities. He'd rather stay home and watch Netflix, or just hang out with friends. Kind of frustrating.

Well, it's not student council season, unless he's a 9th grader. And you didn't make a serious offer. I needed to convince my son the offer was real, it wasn't just BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew he was popular enough to win. He refused . . . until I made him an offer too rich to pass up. He won and he enjoys the leadership role.

I disclosed this to a few parents last night at a cocktail party and they claimed it sends the wrong message.

What's the harm?

The harm is you seem motivated to secure his status. Do you also provide alcohol for him to throw parties?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So how are you going to motivate him to do a good job on Student Council since he really didn't want to do it?

I don't even know what a good job would entail. There's obvi social pressure to go to all the meetings, which allow him to steep in the environment of the smartest kids in school. There's also increase status/profile for him amongst teachers and staff. And obviously it helps his college application. I don't see any downside. What'd be really great is if he started dating one of the girls on council.