Photo By Katelyn Caudill

Extra Credit Ethically Help Charities

Underprivileged people struggle, and, out of the goodness of their hearts, many selfless individuals donate to charities to help them. Unable to rely on such selflessness, many organizations also offer incentives for others to donate, while the government offers tax breaks.

Teachers also often offer extra credit for students to support charities, which critics say undermines the purpose of giving and unfairly influences the grade book. Although offering grades for charity can undermine its value as a selfless act, it is not necessarily unfair and it fulfills the purpose of charity and pushes people to participate.

The point of charity is to promote a cause, not selflessness. If someone can push people to donate, it helps more of those in need. Recently, my school had a toy drive. Many teachers offered extra credit for people to bring in a toy, while those who did not claimed that charity should be an act of selflessness. But consider the perspective of an elementary schooler who receives a toy. If one of the only toys they would receive for Christmas would be from the toy drive, more students donating would mean more children receive what they asked for. It wouldn’t matter that the student who donated the toy did it for extra credit, the child would be happy to receive their toy. Maximizing happiness for the biggest number of people is the purpose of charity, which is stimulated by incentives.

Some argue that incentivizing contributions to charity is unfair to those who cannot donate. In the case of teachers offering extra credit, it’s not required for a grade, it’s something extra. And with the toy drive, there’s more to do than just donating toys. The toys need to be wrapped and labeled, volunteer work that is a form of charity. Helping to prepare toys could count for extra credit. In the scenario where one is unable to contribute to the charity at all, there’s no penalty to them. Nothing is lost, but many people gain. Teachers offering extra credit for contributing to charity increases the amount of people helped and comes in forms accessible to many people.

Selflessness is not the purpose of charity, and an inability to contribute does no harm; therefore teachers offering extra credit to students who contribute is ethical.

By Matthew Teymouri (11)

Extra Credit for Charity Unfairly Skews Grades

My school recently put on a toy drive where some of my teachers offered extra credit for donations while others opposed the idea. While offering extra credit for donations can increase the amount of donations made, it ultimately raises ethical concerns because it is wrong for donations to affect a student’s grade.

One of the main reasons many teachers offer extra credit for donations is because they can receive more donations for a charity. With a grade incentive, students feel more compelled to donate. This can help aid charities; however, it is morally wrong because students need to learn to donate on their own. This way, students will be more likely to do spontaneous charitable acts in the future rather than looking for personal gain. 

In addition to this, offering students extra credit for donations is inappropriate because it changes what their grade represents. A student’s grade should be based on class performance, not willingness to give to charity. Giving a donation to a charity is not an accurate measure of their understanding of class material and therefore should not affect their grade. 

Also, giving grade bumps for donations is wrong because it creates unequal opportunity for the students. Giving donations often requires a student to put in money. Students who can’t afford this would therefore be at a disadvantage in the class. Their grades would be lower due to circumstances out of their control rather than their understanding of class material. This is morally wrong because it unfairly benefits some students over others.

It is wrong for teachers to offer extra credit for students giving donations. While some people argue that it helps charities by increasing donations, it is overall a morally wrong thing to do. It not only gives students an incentive for acts they should learn to do by themselves, but it also results in inaccurate and unfair grades. Therefore, even though some argue for it, teachers should not offer extra credit for charitable acts.

By Camille Smith (11)