Recently, I stumbled upon an article published in The Washington Times that I felt I should pass along.
For those of you who chose not to follow the link, here's a exceedingly brief synopsis of the exceedingly brief article: graduating students at Plano Senior High School in Texas who have at one point or another been inducted into their chapter of National Honor Society have been prohibited from wearing the stole bearing the NHS logo when they dress in their caps and gowns. The reason: "officials fear it might alienate other kids" ("School bars honors insignia").
I apologize in advance to the students of Plano HS--and other students attending other high schools across the nation--who did not meet the established criteria for entrance into the honor society, as what I say in this article may come off as ignorant to their abilities and contributions to the communities in which they live. I truly believe everyone is intelligent in their own regard. However, I do not apologize for expressing my opinion on this topic.
As a not-so-recent high school graduate who wore that stole with pride, I find this decision to be utterly disgusting. What are we teaching students by prohibiting deserved distinctions for their hard work? (Notice the emphasis on "hard work".) Quite frankly, from my perspective, the message being sent from this administrative blunder is that students who are capable of demonstrating their academic prowess shouldn't be proud of their accomplishments anymore.
I understand the ideology behind the (intensely loathed) No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and its replacement, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015; notwithstanding, there comes a point when efforts to make every student feel equal despite their limitations become excessive.
The sad part is that this isn't the only instance of people altering institutional norms to ensure no child feels left behind in any aspect of their upbringing and development. How about the new debate pertaining to participation trophies? My generation has had the honor of living through and observing the evolution of competitions to what we know of them today. Don't get me wrong, consolation prizes have been a commonplace in society for as long as I can remember and certainly long before my time on earth began. But, what is the underlying lesson taught to children raised in this day and age? That it's okay to finish last since you'll still be rewarded? Excuse my language, but what the hell does that imprint upon them?
In my life of twenty-one years, I can promise you that I've learned far more from my failures than from my successes. I wasn't always awarded a trophy or a certificate or a medal or what have you, but watching others get recognized made me strive to improve myself so that I could be afforded the same recognition. If we continue to take the competition out of athletics and academics, we risk teaching our children that it is not necessary to put effort into their endeavors in order to find success--not to mention the fact that we are robbing our children of vital learning experiences from losing and failing.
Should we strive for mediocrity? No. By all means, if your best is mediocre in the eyes of those who excel in that specific area, then that's fine. But, we are erring towards teaching the youth of the country that it's acceptable to be mediocre. At one point in our history, there were those who pushed the men and women who inhabited these lands to strive for excellence. We need to get back to our roots instead of focusing on what some believe as protecting the emotional well-being of kids.
General George A. Custer was once quoted as saying the following: "It's not how many times you get knocked down that count; it's how many times you get back up." Even though this phrase has been used to the point of exhaustion, our following generations need to embody it because it holds the true essence of life--not being stripped of academic rights awarded to them to make everyone equal or being handed trophies for attending so that everyone is included.
