[quote=scaredycat]we don’t own a tv. no car. doesnt go out much w/friends, just one friend. doesn’t talk on the phone. he likes to read, we could prohibit reading, we’ve tried that in the past. we have internet. i guess i could take that away. i doubt that would motivate him though. [/quote]

Reading is a good thing…Really, especially in southern california….You should encourage him to read more….What particular subject(s) is he do you think he is not doing well in?

I think you need to figure out if he “isn’t doing well” as you describe is because (a) he is disinterested or (b) because he is having a hard time on subjects. The later won’t be solved by throwing money for different grades…he needs better tools for learning.

That said, I’m not sure in your case if the incentive you are proposing is going to work. From what you describe, your son seems like he’s more on the introvert side…as he seems to like to stay home more, doesn’t hang out with too many friends etc, so he probably doesn’t have a pressing need to use money for any purpose.

If your son’s motivation is the issue (versus learning difficulty), maybe the thing to do is to find your son more things to do. A hobby of some sort, photography, some sport, something. Encourage him to go out more..with friends….Because having a little *positive* peer pressure to want things/ do things might open some things up. Just got to find the right peers.

I got involved with computers and photography very young, the former was because I had friends that were into it. The later was so I could make a convenient excuse to take pictures of girls for the school yearbook. So money quickly became an issue when it came to getting gear (computers were $3k those days)…

Just be very very careful with how you word your incentives. My dad offered to buy me an Apple IIe if I scored a goal in my AYSO league (I was the second to the worst player). 4th game in, I did….on my own team’s goalie.. by accident….He never specified which side to score….He ended up ponying up the computer and never made any such deal with me again….