We are living in a society where today standards are simply suggestions that can be discussed and tossed aside, or ignored altogether. We have rising numbers of youth and children who are committing suicide and basically not knowing how to handle it when some issue in life doesn’t go their way. It’s sad when you look at a school district that makes a rule that everyone who tries out for an interscholastic sport must make the team and must get playing time. It’s disgusting to hear educators say that they aren’t allowed to fail students even if they didn’t do the work, didn’t try to do the work and basically didn’t care. What are e teaching our youth? That no matter what, everything will be ok…that they don’t have to put forth any effort and they’ll still get what everyone else gets? I recently attended a sports banquet for kids where they gave trophies to every play on every team. Whatever happened to the old adage ‘to the winners go the spoils’? I came up (not too long ago) in an era where if you won you got a trophy and if you lost, you tried harder next year. What you basically learn from this is that everything just ain’t for you (yes I used ain’t)! If you’re 4’11” and in the 11th grade with no dribbling skills and no vertical then you have no business on the basketball team. Perhaps the chess club would be better suited for you…or perhaps debate. There’s a suburban school here in Texas where they allowed a male cheerleader to wear the same uniform as the female cheerleaders, skirt and spanks included, and thought that was acceptable. I ask again, what are we teaching our youth? What kind of world are we creating? Yes, we live in a free country, but just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should. All things that are possible aren’t always permissible. That’s just my take on it.
Aside from the previously stated social ills, let’s also look at the educational permissibility. I spoke to a kid who told me that the teachers at his school aren’t allowed to fail students. They get a 60 for simply putting their name and date on the assignments and tests. The worst they can do is a D…the school district doesn’t want them to feel bad if they don’t pass or make the same grades as their peers. Yet they have no problems not allowing them to graduate when they can’t pass the standardized tests; interesting concept there. I heard an interview this morning on the drive in with an Army recruiting specialist. She advised that many high school graduates aren’t even equipped to serve their country. In a study over the past five years 40% of black, 25% of Hispanic and 16 of white high school graduates could not pass the Army entrance exam. This is preposterous! These folks are supposed to be ready for the world right? If they can’t pass the Army entrance exam, then they obviously aren’t ready for the workforce either; since jobs in the military closely mirror jobs in civilian life to a certain extent. The saddest thing was the first question from her interviewer was, “So, why doesn’t the Army just lower their standards?” What?!?!?! Why is it when someone doesn’t reach the mark we decide that the standards need to be lowered? Why not keep the higher level of expectation and give out youth something to reach for...something to work toward? I’ve said for years that the reason why we have so many people in the highest level tech jobs in this country born outside of this country is because the American educational system is failing our country. This is true, but perhaps Mr. Jamil was right as well when he made the statement back in 1988…Americans are lazy! Lazy! Lazy! Lazy! Why else do we give our kids 2 to 3 months off each year from learning when the rest of the world educates year round? Why else do we make rules about teachers not being able to fail kids? Why else would we have sports organizations for kids where they don’t keep score and give trophies to everyone? Why else would we stipulate acceptance for whatever it is that you want to be, think or do?
What these ‘save your self confidence’, ‘don’t hurt my kid’s self esteem’ idiots fail to realize is success is born out of failure. You can’t learn the right way if you have no knowledge of wrong. You cannot improve your game and win next year if you have no incentive to do so. We need to let our kids fail and teach them, in that failure, how to deal with it and use it to propel them to success. No one likes the feeling you get when you give your all and it just isn’t enough…so work harder next time to make sure you don’t get that feeling again. People, stop lowering standards…set some standards, high standards, live by those standards and do your part to create a stronger society than the one we’re headed toward now.
Aside from the previously stated social ills, let’s also look at the educational permissibility. I spoke to a kid who told me that the teachers at his school aren’t allowed to fail students. They get a 60 for simply putting their name and date on the assignments and tests. The worst they can do is a D…the school district doesn’t want them to feel bad if they don’t pass or make the same grades as their peers. Yet they have no problems not allowing them to graduate when they can’t pass the standardized tests; interesting concept there. I heard an interview this morning on the drive in with an Army recruiting specialist. She advised that many high school graduates aren’t even equipped to serve their country. In a study over the past five years 40% of black, 25% of Hispanic and 16 of white high school graduates could not pass the Army entrance exam. This is preposterous! These folks are supposed to be ready for the world right? If they can’t pass the Army entrance exam, then they obviously aren’t ready for the workforce either; since jobs in the military closely mirror jobs in civilian life to a certain extent. The saddest thing was the first question from her interviewer was, “So, why doesn’t the Army just lower their standards?” What?!?!?! Why is it when someone doesn’t reach the mark we decide that the standards need to be lowered? Why not keep the higher level of expectation and give out youth something to reach for...something to work toward? I’ve said for years that the reason why we have so many people in the highest level tech jobs in this country born outside of this country is because the American educational system is failing our country. This is true, but perhaps Mr. Jamil was right as well when he made the statement back in 1988…Americans are lazy! Lazy! Lazy! Lazy! Why else do we give our kids 2 to 3 months off each year from learning when the rest of the world educates year round? Why else do we make rules about teachers not being able to fail kids? Why else would we have sports organizations for kids where they don’t keep score and give trophies to everyone? Why else would we stipulate acceptance for whatever it is that you want to be, think or do?
What these ‘save your self confidence’, ‘don’t hurt my kid’s self esteem’ idiots fail to realize is success is born out of failure. You can’t learn the right way if you have no knowledge of wrong. You cannot improve your game and win next year if you have no incentive to do so. We need to let our kids fail and teach them, in that failure, how to deal with it and use it to propel them to success. No one likes the feeling you get when you give your all and it just isn’t enough…so work harder next time to make sure you don’t get that feeling again. People, stop lowering standards…set some standards, high standards, live by those standards and do your part to create a stronger society than the one we’re headed toward now.
-Harvey J. Whipplemeyer
It’s Just My Opinion, But I’m Not Wrong!
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