Could high school students consider good grades to be as cool as the latest sneaker brand? Some educators in New York City are hoping to elevate scholastic achievement to a hot brand, using a special school-issued cell phone as a status symbol.  Esquire covers the story in its December issue. I love the idea because it hooks into what’s driving kids these days. No ivory tower or holier-than-thou idealism here. 

Here’s how it works. Every student in a high school gets a cell phone. It’s basically a silver Razr-esque Motorola phone, inscribed at the top with the word “Million.” (The phone got its name from the million or so students in the New York public school system.) During school hours, the phone’s capabilities are limited to school-related functions: accessing an electronic encyclopedia, lecture notes, class schedules, etc. But after school, the phone kicks into high gear and is fully functional for making calls, texting, taking photos, etc. The kicker is that students earn minutes and the cooler functions with academic achievement.

The program debuts this month at KIPP charter schools in New York. (An irony is that New York City public schools last year began rigidly enforcing a long-standing ban on cell phones on campuses.)

An advertising agency, Droga5, came up with the concept as part of a contest for the best idea on how to make education as desireable as a consumer product. The agency developed beautiful, alluring ads. They show an elegant image of the phone. One reads, “Derek Jeter can’t get one.” Another says, “Are you one in a million?” I think it’s a brilliant way to position the phone as an elite symbol that only the special [read: hard-working students] can  access.

We’d all like to think our children are motivated from within to learn. What motivates your student? And are some items effective or off-limit as incentives? Good questions to ponder.