Should Children Be Paid To Learn? | An Interview with Jon Ronson

Broadcast on 4 April 2015 on KSCO AM 1080, KOMY AM 1340 and KSCO.com Live Stream.

'It's A Question Of Balance' balances the intellectual with the creative. The show combines a debate topic with an arts interview because discussion and creativity are two of the most vital ways we engage in the world.

For more info on Ruth and the show go to www.itsaquestionofbalance.com

HOUR 1: Talk With Listeners' Views

This week we consider ‘Should Children Be Paid To Learn?’ According to research papers quoted in Education Week and the Journal of Human Resources a dozen states in America have offered financial incentive programs to students ranging from students being paid to read to receiving in some instances hundreds of dollars for good grades. But should children be paid to learn? Michael Sandel in his book What Money Can’t Buy states that economic reasoning suggests that two incentives should work better than one but there is also the possibility that the monetary incentive will undermine the intrinsic one leading to less reading over time. Is there any harm in offering children financial incentives if it gets them to do the work? What life lessons do you think children might learn from being offered money to read, or get better grades, rather than learning to motivate themselves? Could it be teaching them that studying is a chore? Or would they perhaps gain an intrinsic love of reading, for example, as a by-product of learning for pay? What do you think? 

For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com

Hour 2: Begins at 0:53 minutes Interview with Jon Ronson

This week as her special guest from the arts Ruth Copland is pleased to be interviewing internationally best-selling writer, journalist, screenwriter, radio presenter and film-maker Jon Ronson. If you enjoy the interview you can meet Jon in person at Bookshop Santa Cruz on Friday April 10th at 7:30 PM for a talk and book-signing. Born in Wales, Jon currently lives in London and New York. Author of nine books and numerous articles, Jon’s non-fiction books, The Psychopath Test; Them: Adventures with Extremists; Lost at Sea; and The Men Who Stare At Goats have all been international and New York Times bestsellers. The Men Who Stare At Goats was adapted into a film starring George Clooney, and The Psychopath Test is to be adapted into a thriller starring Scarlett Johansson. Jon is a documentary film-maker, directing, writing and hosting by turns; his many films include Stanley Kubrick's Boxes and The Secret Rulers of the World. His first fictional screenplay, called Frank and written with Peter Straughan, won the British Independent Film Awards Best Screenplay award. Jon is currently writing and directing a silent comedy, The Dog Thrower. In the UK Jon writes regularly for The Guardian newspaper and has produced and presented radio shows including the BBC Radio 4 show Jon Ronson On… which has been nominated for a Sony Award four times. In the US he’s a regular contributor to the Public Radio International show This American Life and GQ magazine. Jon’s latest book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed has just come out. 

For more info and to hear previous shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com

^{*Images by Emli Bendixen}