# Should Schools Pay Students to Inform on Their Classmates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299 "2005-04-14T16:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299/21 "2005-04-18T11:59:46Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Simply put–it works. Which does not justify the creation of a stoolie culture among our youth. It sends the wrong message, and creates a climate of suspicion and mistrust. I can just imagine working with an office full of the graduates from your school. Any of those tattle-tales get the snot kicked out of them for squealing? ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299/22 "2005-04-18T12:13:27Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > :rolleyes: Oh, please. You’re the kind of criminal mastermind who would find yourself outwitted nine ways to Sunday by the administrators. I guarantee you this Georgia school isn’t handing out money to every dumbass who comes in saying “I saw Johnny Doe with a bag of white powder. Now where’s my reward money?” > > At my school, trying to “game” this system could easily get you arrested. Informants can’t get paid just for making up false accusations about someone. To get any money, your information first has to lead the police to a real crime/criminal. You aren’t paid a dime until this occurs. Giving false information to the police can get your own ass in BIG trouble. We haven’t had any problems with this. The point is the accusation, for what it’s worth, is completely true; the informer did see the perp with a bag of a suspicious substance. The other point is that the substance is not illegal. I don’t think they require that the informers be certain that the activity is illegal (on the grounds that kids aren’t lawyers and don’t know exactly what is and isn’t legal in every situation). If they do, then my plan falls apart, obviously, but a kid can still game the system by ‘getting caught’ doing something that looks illegal but isn’t. > [@Tangent](#): > > The thing is, the idiots who pull these kinds of crimes always brag about it in front of their friends and other kids in their “crowd.” Usually, it’s one of these kids who turns them in. > > When the principal and/or on-campus police officer then calls in the suspect for questioning, he usually folds like a cheap lawn chair. > > It’s not something that is abused by our school officials–really it’s not an everyday or even every-month occurence. I believe it has been successful as a deterrent to criminal activity on our campus. > > Simply put–it works. I have no doubt it works. I also have no doubt that it leads to evidence-planting and subsequent informing, as I’ve seen it both in a high school enviornment and also run into some abuse of it in the adult world. This, of course, is the age-old question of how many guilty going free versus how many innocents being punished. Seeing my classmates cheerfully lie about each other when there was no monetary reward to, I am fearful of how many will end up in the second column if these policies become widespread. Hence, the civil-disobedience-with-optional-profit. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299/23 "2005-04-18T23:49:26Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Which does not justify the creation of a stoolie culture among our youth. It sends the wrong message, and creates a climate of suspicion and mistrust. I can just imagine working with an office full of the graduates from your school. > > Any of those tattle-tales get the snot kicked out of them for squealing? You people are nuts! If you witnessed one of your neighbors destroying some property of another neighbor, and you knew the police were looking for information on who had committed the crime, you’re saying you would keep your mouth shut for fear of being a ‘stoolie?’ I’d volunteer that information (anonymously) whether I got a reward or not. I hope I never live next to you. And anyway, I think y’all are blowing this WAY out of proportion. Your imaginations are running wild. We’ve been doing this for years at my school and we probably only average about a couple of ‘crimestopper tips’ per semester. It hasn’t turned everyone into snitches or bullies. And nobody’s gaming the system because it would be a lot more trouble than it would be worth. > [@robertliguori](#): > > The point is the accusation, for what it’s worth, is completely true; the informer did see the perp with a bag of a suspicious substance. The other point is that the substance is not illegal. I don’t think they require that the informers be certain that the activity is illegal (on the grounds that kids aren’t lawyers and don’t know exactly what is and isn’t legal in every situation). If they do, then my plan falls apart, obviously, but a kid can still game the system by ‘getting caught’ doing something that looks illegal but isn’t. No. This won’t work at my school. As I said, your tip has to lead officials to a **real crime** in order for you to get paid. Let’s say you saw Suzy with a bag of white powder and you report it. The police question Suzy and find the bag on her. They find out that it’s just sugar or whatever. No crime in having a bag of sugar, so Suzy’s not commiting a crime and therefore you aren’t getting paid. (of course, Suzy will have some ‘splainin’ to do as to why she’s carrying around a bag of sugar) Look, I understand the fear some of you are expressing about abuse of this system by the students. All I’m saying is that, in practice, it hasn’t been misused like that where I teach. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299/24 "2005-04-19T01:50:11Z")
I don’t think this is something the school needs to be getting involved with. [Crime Stoppers](http://www.nb.crimestoppers.ca/) offers cash rewards for confidential information that leads to an arrest. They’re better able to handle such information and know what warrants investigation. Vandalism? Arson? Bomb threats? All worth investigating. Someone having a toke on their lunch break? Not worth involving law inforcement. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299/25 "2005-04-19T01:56:46Z")
Well, we already have dogs in school, sniffing etc. \ I don’t like itthe whole snitch thing–don’t like the dogs, either. And I miss the days when doing a bong didn’t put you in prison for life. I haven’t smoked pot in over 20 years, but by god, I woud start tomorrow if it was made legal. sorry for the tangent; back to thread. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299/26 "2005-04-19T02:03:07Z")
I just love how snitching on someone because of drugs could land you enough money for a hit of basically your drug of choice, unless it’s extremely expensive. Sure, it would probably never happen, but it could be a nickle bag for a dime bag, which would definitely not help the system. All ridiculous scenarios aside, I really would hate this system. There is no way I would want to go through a high school even more like my parents then my parents are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-pay-students-to-inform-on-their-classmates/299299.md?page=1)