Greetings, my dear readers, and welcome again to another edition of my blog. Today, I am going to share with you one of the crucial sides of our shelter's operations - the implementation of the reward system program for the children here in our shelter and the impact it has had on the development the well-being of the children. It is a topic that is very hard to explain and put into action, as I believe that understanding the nuances of the reward system program is key to creating a nurturing and supportive environment for these young individuals.
By looking the strategies and outcomes of our reward system, we gain valuable insights to the behaviors of the children and what reinforces the positive changes we apply to them. Come and join me as we explore the primary aspect of our approach to childcare and uncover the importance of fostering a system that promotes growth, resilience, and happiness among those who depend on us for support and guidance.
When we were young, physical rewards such as toys and treats given by our parents played a big part in shaping our behavior and actions. These tangible incentives acted as powerful motivators to the children to encouraging in showing good conduct and meet expectations of our family.
However, as we became mature and progress in life, our motivation changes. The appeal of simple rewards fades into a complex and deeper motivation leading us to strive more. As we become adults, the reward we seek becomes simpler yet essential for long-term goals like achieving to finish our studies, having a self-care, set a vacation, or eating at our favorite restaurants to pay for the hard work we have done. These rewards we set give us the motivation to continue in life.
Within the shelter, there are children under our care who struggle to find the motivation to complete the assigned tasks and few of these children even lack the willingness of self-motivation to carry on with their lives, as the only solution they know is to end their existence and flee from the overwhelming traumas and suffering, they have encountered in their past life.
In recognizing the difficult challenges they have experienced, we introduced a reward system designed to give them motivation, no matter how small, so that they may be encouraged to continue striving for improvement and resilience.
The children are actively participating in the reward program by putting stars in the reward booklet given to them. Each time they completed a good deed or performed an unassigned chore, they were able to receive a star as a token of recognition. The criteria for earning stars were clear - only they will do good things and in exchange they will be given a certain number of stars depending on the houseparent to acknowledge their good deeds.
This system encouraged the children to not only actively engage in positive behaviors but also to strive for excellence in their tasks, knowing that their efforts would be noticed and rewarded. Furthermore, the program also presented a great opportunity to challenge the growth and learning of the children, as it allows the house parents or staff to guide the children by challenging them to identify the areas for improvement to make positive changes, without the expectation of receiving a star for every action taken.
Through this structured approach, the children were motivated to cultivate a sense of responsibility, accountability, and self-improvement in their daily lives.
By collecting stars through active participation, children are given various privileges that will excite them. For instance, with a hundred stars, children can play in an hour of gameplay on Roblox, watch their favorite videos in YouTube, or enjoy a full-length movie film for a well-deserved break.
Furthermore, these stars can also be redeemed by purchasing their favorite foods or snacks or even buying on their cosmetics items for the older girls. Additionally, children can also spend quality time with their favorite staff members, creating memorable experiences by watching a movie together.
The main aim of this rewards program is to establish in children's sense of self-motivation by setting goals and achieve it, that no matter how small they may seem. It is given that even the smallest accomplishments they give can be a way for a remarkable action to pursue and strive harder to achieve their goals no matter the scale.
Unfortunately, there have been instances where some of the rewards provided to the children were misused, as they would falsely claim to possess more stars than they actually earned or adding stars to their booklet to gain access to online activities like playing Roblox or watching YouTube videos.
To prevent such misuse of privileges, our team of staff members is committed to set strategic interventions to address the misconducts of the children and foster positive behavior among them. We have a weekly team meeting where we discussed, brainstorm and plan how to support the children in their personal development and discourage any bad attitudes.
Rewards are beneficial as long as they are not abused and do not exceed our means. I hope you found today's blog informative. See you next time.