PSS, stop marginalizing poor, underachieving students
I went to my granddaughter’s 5th grade graduation at Koblerville Elementary School and noticed a few troubling sights I would like to share. Let me say, I am 100 percent against competition in schools, so that means I am 100 percent against awards in schools. By 1st grade, kids already know who has money and who doesn’t and the ones that don’t are already being marginalized by their economically better off classmates. By 1st graHde with the system we use, the smarter ones—and most of the smarter ones have parents that really take education seriously and help their kids—get awards which further marginalizes kids whose parents don’t really care or have to work 16 hours a day to survive. At graduation time, you see the same few kids getting all the awards, wearing the better clothes and having the most confidence. One look around at the kids and you can tell, just by looking at the ones that feel inferior, so PSS gives everyone a useless award like “citizenship” or “helpfulness” which doesn’t fool the kids at all. Let parents praise their kids, schools should concentrate on fairness, cooperation, and emphasizing how alike all children are and how much in common they have, not how much better some kids are, thanks to better opportunity, parenting, or more money.
Gary DuBrall
Chalan Piao, Saipan
This is a terrible idea.
School is at its core an academic institution and its purpose is to educate. Studying is not inherently the most enjoyable activity known to man, and thus it is necessary to motivate children by praising and rewarding good work and behavior. Underperforming students need to be given encouragement and attention, to motivate or otherwise help them resolve their underlying problems, which is unfortunately not always possible. Young children who excel in their studies are often motivated by praise from parents, teachers and peers, and they perceive awards as recognition of their hard work.
It is rare that a young child can be self-motivated, and the lack of praise and motivation from parents is no reason to withhold praise and motivation from the school which are in part given in the form of awards, tangible objects that students can keep and cherish as rewards of their accomplishments and work. In fact, for some less fortunate students, the only place they can receive this kind of motivation and recognition for their studies is at school, if their parents are apathetic and neglectful. What you propose would strip them of a shot at receiving recognition, praise and reward of their hard work.
i dunno, i was a first year teacher last school year and i must say that the kids who won the awards at our school really were just smarter kids (and $ had nothing to do with it) Maybe you just don’t want to accept the fact that some kids are simply more gifted than their peers – its called talent coupled with hard work.
What a terrible idea. The purpose of school is to prepare kids for life in the grown up world, where hard work is rewarded. Excellence and work ethic should be encouraged and celebrated from Day One in school.
To say that competition is wrong and children don’t deserve awards for excellence is to agree with socialism. Ayn Rand attempted to make people believe in that mindset in her book ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and had quite a few people confused and converted by her convoluted sense of equality.
If there were no competition there would be no progression. It is by challenging the mind and body that we discover new and better means of doing things. Medicines which have lengthened the healthy lives of people were a result of competition! Maybe you don’t appreciate living better and healthier. At one time the common cold and the flu would be life threatening. Now we take a little Dimetap or Tylenol, maybe NyQuil to ease the nights rest.
Farms can now produce healthier, vitamin enriched fruits, vegetables, grains, milk, cows, pigs and more because of discovering how to better feed or cultivate and fight pests. Maybe you don’t like eating.
We made it to the Moon in a competition with Russia and Germany. We can travel across the ocean in days on a ship made of METAL! We can fly across the world in a machine made of metal heavier than air! Instead of waiting for mail to be delivered in weeks or more, we can instantly communicate with loved ones across the globe!