Using the bribe method

[WMAQ]

Help! If any parents have used the bribe method successfuly I'd love your ideas. I would like to "bribe" (encourage, motivate) my daughter(15) and son (11) to improve school work, read, try new things, use their talents, volunteer for good causes. We pay for certian houshold work, but I'm talking bout stuff that improves themselves and where they have fun. I think I'm looking for the best way to communicate it (especially to the 15 yr old - who just wants to "relax" (IM al day) and hang out with friends). Any ideas/stories would be helpful.

WMAQ

[Kate]

The only bribe we used successfully was to pay our son $10 a basket to keep him in basketball when he wanted to drop out. We made him put half the money in savings but he could have the other half for whatever he wished. It did keep him in sports and I know it was good for him. I think some of the other parents thought we were awful but we were a little desperate to keep him out of trouble. By high school bribes didn't work anymore though - this was when he was in eighth grade.