#AcademicAchievement

As Thai students prepare to return to school, parents across the country are quietly debating a familiar question: should children be rewarded with cash or gifts for bringing home top grades? This parenting dilemma, recently discussed in a widely-read Slate article, is now the subject of renewed scientific interest as new studies examine whether financial incentives actually boost academic achievement—or if they undermine learning in the long run.

The question isn’t just hypothetical. In many Thai households, as elsewhere, parents sometimes offer cash, new gadgets, or outings as rewards for school success. A father’s proposal, detailed in the Slate column, to pay his children per grade sparked a debate between him and his wife—she insisted that learning and grades should be their own reward, while he argued that incentives mirror the real-world bonuses adults receive at work. This parental tug-of-war mirrors what many Thai families experience, shaped by Thai cultural norms valuing education, family honor, and academic competition.

A revolutionary wave of educational psychology research has shattered conventional assumptions about academic incentives, revealing that parents who offer cash payments and material rewards for good grades may unwittingly sabotage their children’s natural love of learning while creating psychological dependencies that undermine long-term educational success. This groundbreaking evidence arrives at a crucial moment for Thai families, where escalating academic competition and rising educational costs have intensified parental anxiety about securing children’s future prospects through any means necessary. The research findings challenge deeply held beliefs about motivation while offering Thai parents scientific guidance for nurturing genuine intellectual curiosity without falling into reward-based traps that transform education from joyful discovery into transactional obligation.

New research and recent analysis reveal that the habits of parents significantly shape the academic and emotional success of their children. Drawing inspiration from a widely-shared article in The Times of India on the distinctive behaviors of parents supporting top-scoring students, combined with insights from regional studies and Thailand’s evolving parenting landscape, this report explores the practical strategies and evolving programs that are driving children’s achievement—both in Thai classrooms and around the world.

A major new book, “The Family Dynamic” by Susan Dominus, is challenging long-held beliefs about how families can raise high-achieving children, offering vital insights for Thai parents pressured by rising academic and social expectations. Drawing on extensive reporting and scientific research, Dominus turns the conventional wisdom about parenting for success on its head, revealing that high achievement in children often comes with underappreciated emotional costs—and that much of what parents agonize over may matter less than they think.

A growing body of global and local research is highlighting a worrying trend: the vast majority of children in Thailand, much like their peers in Hong Kong and around the world, are failing to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. This shortfall—revealed by the latest studies and echoed by Thai education and health officials—raises concerns about the lasting impacts on academic performance, physical health, and mental wellbeing among the nation’s youth.