Zoopy

Whatever motivates kids to participate in school can't be that bad. I mean in todays age it is practically impossible to fail high school if you show up for he majority of it. Kids are stupid and lazy, so if restricting an activity in the hopes of them working harder then how can it be a bad thing?

The only problem I see with this Gamestop thing is that parents should be doing this themselves. If this "grades before games" trend catches on, it'll only make parents lazier by relying on other institutions to discipline their kids. The biggest reason kids are stupid and lazy is because of parents.

SmokingTarpan

Bit of a major difference between that, and this. Pizza Hut was simply giving extra goodies to the kids that did well; if a kid had bad grades, they wouldn't refuse to sell the kid a pizza.

I don't think it's a business's prerogative to force kids to do well in school in order to buy their merchandise. If a business wants to reward kids that do well by giving out free games/pizza, offering discounts, etc, that's fine with me (I remember Book It, and I loved it). Incentives are good. But a business is there for the purpose of buying/selling goods, not deciding how a person should live their lives.

Aside from the fact that the parents are the ones that should be controlling the whole video game purchase thing, positive reinforcement goes a lot farther than negative punishment.

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Anospa

For everyone thats against this idea, go out and find a group of kids and talk to them, and see how arrogant some of them can be. I'd venture to say that most of the kids nowadays are so much more disrespectful and idiotic than when I was younger. Plus, meeting the "classic," video game nerds in college has made me thank my parents countless times for making me do well in school and do other things besides go to class.

I was limited to like an hour tops a night during the week and only a few more on the weekends in grade school. I think its a good start this guy is making, hopefully it makes parents realize that the TV or the computer isn't a babysitter.

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tHa_KhAn

This is a great policy.

Some responses reminds me of those kids that made the news a few years back claiming they had a "Right!" to go to college, but because they failed their standardized tests they didn't graduate high school. They didn't want to do high school over again and not go to college with their friends, which is their right according to them.

There are so few kids that honestly cannot do well in school no matter what class AND some how have the funds, time, and transportation to purchase video games I don't see how this could exclude many.

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Pokerface

Incorrect on soooooo many levels.

While there certainly are lazy parents (and that's bad, we all get that) kids are often stupid and lazy not because of parents, but because they're KIDS. If anything, they're kept stupid and lazy because of parents who care enough to carry them through some hardships they'd be better off suffering through.

This isn't about parents relying on institutions to raise their kids; this is about an institution doing what it feels is right. It doesn't detract from the parental role in any way; in fact, I'd not be surprised to see more parents become involved with their kids' hobby as they take them to this particular store, knowing that the store and its owner support their kids just like the parents themselves do.

If parents don't agree, they cast their vote with their wallets. Flouride in the water didn't turn kids into communists, and this won't generate complacency either.

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SmokingTarpan

But see, you said it yourself. It was your parents that instituted controls that made you do well. That's their job and responsibility- not McDonald's or Gamestop down the street.

Someone else offered up the question: How would you feel if a business required you to bring in a "satisfactory" performance report from your job in order to buy a television, stereo or microwave? I certainly wouldn't appreciate it. A business is there to sell goods, that's it. The only real responsibility it has is to make sure you have the money necessary at the time of purchase to buy item X (though with credit these days, even that is vague).

Don't get me confused, I'm not against kids doing well in school. I also think the guy's heart (or certain other parts, in case of whippage from his schoolteacher wife) is in the right place. My main problem is with the idea that a business open to the public is allowed to dictate its owner's/proprietor's values as a condition of (rather than using bonus incentives for) the public purchasing goods/services. My secondary problem is with those that think it's the prerogative and responsibility of anyone but the parents to make sure kids come out right.

Extra incentives to reinforce certain behavior such as good grades? Totally awesome. Discounts, free merchandise, pizza parties, whathaveyou- I think that's brilliant and good (eg I approve of this dude willing to buy a game for straight-A students). But having a business (especially such a public, national one like Gamestop) dictating that you follow their idea of morals/values as a requirement to purchase their goods? Bad.

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Anospa

Yeah, that may be the case, but if the parents of kids aren't stepping up, I'm glad people like this guy are trying to at least bring it to their attention.

With dumbasses like that Jack Thompson character running around, I'm glad someone's taking the right approach to this type of thing.

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IceCold

You don't think a business owner has the right to refuse service to anyone? We're not talking about racial discrimination here, we're talking about requiring a certain behavior before offering their business. Do you not have auto insurance? Is it wrong that someone with 10 speeding tickets pays more than someone with no traffic violations? Is it wrong that someone with 10 speeding tickets, 4 reckless driving convictions and 3 DUIs is refused an insurance policy by most companies?

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RandomGuy

I don't think anyone is saying the shopkeeper doesn't have legal rights to do this. It's a question of whether it is a good thing to do or not.

The auto insurance comparison is irrelevant until people start suing the shopkeepers because their kids have bad grades. (Just wait for it...)

SmokingTarpan

Insurance companies, in my opinion, are a bad example to use here. In that world of business, it's not just a "pay money, receive item" type of engagement. There's a chance that in the course of the contract, you could end up costing them a substantial amount of money, therefore they're certainly within their rights to be selective of their customers.

However, a business like Best Buy simply offers a good/service in exchange for your money. You want their microwave, you pay them $100, end of deal. Them deciding they will sell only to people wearing Nike shoes has absolutely no bearing on the terms of the business transaction.

I'm not a business person, so I've no idea of the correct terms to use here to refine my argument. So I'll use "Private Business" (a company that provides a service at potential cost/risk to themself dependent upon customer qualities) vs. "Public Business" (a company that simply provides X good for Y dollars, no self risk dependent upon customer qualities). Private wants to make restrictions? Acceptable. Public? Not so much.

Maybe some business people can help me out with the term-age that I'm lacking. :|

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ShooDaddy

From a teenagers point of view.

I'm 17, now that is the age were I dislike parents, and teachers, and really feel like controlling my life.

If I was 8 and chucky cheese gave me 4 free tokens for every A on my report card, then woohoo. But to restrict tokens from bad kids with no A's, that is just wrong.


Free 10 dollar game if I make honor roll? Hell yes. No games if I don't? Hell no.


Award kids for doing good, don't restrict kids for doing bad. Thats up to the parents. You do your job, they do theirs.

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RandomGuy

VegaBond

Still can use other family members, or wash some dishes, mow the lawn and use PARENTS CREDIT card and order online... Use a school friends higher aged brother to buy games, there is so many other solutions.. Or even goto another store.

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Pokerface

Can't say as that stuns me. I'd have preferred to see Gamestop get behind the man and his idea (maybe not corporate-wide, but at least to say "It's his store and we're willing to let it go for a while to see what happens"), but him getting suspended isn't stunning.

I still think that this would've done more good than harm.

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Tempus: Pokerface is nailing it right on the head. Everyone who is arguing against him is simply arguing against reality.
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tHa_KhAn

I view it as a form of marketing. Sure he loses a few sales(the cost of the campaign), but he gains more from it from people respecting the idea(like CD mentioned earlier) which would be the positive side of the campaign. Many marketing campaigns don't pan out, I think this was a sure thing.

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