I read an article today about a Mom in Florida who is upset that her child made the honor roll with a C and D on his report card. She was angry, she was upset and she was right. Why in our society are we teaching our children that mediocrity is something to be celebrated? Why are we teaching them that everyone is a winner?
When I was growing up you won a trophy if you're team won...you didn't get one just because you played. You lost the game if the other team scored more points than you...you didn't keep the score quiet and not tell who actually one or lost. You made the honor roll if you worked hard and made good grades all around...not if you kept up a good GPA with bad grades.
As a parent it frustrates me to no end that everyone is a winner. Look around your work center or your adult friends and you'll see that we aren't all winners. To excel at work you have work hard, to excel in college you have to work hard, to excel in life as an adult you have to work hard. You can't go to work and say hey I showed up give me a raise...really people?
This mother is right. Her child did not earn the opportunity to be on the honor roll. Sure he made A's in most of his classes, but clearly he struggled in two of them. He didn't earn it. He simply did enough to pass.
I'm with this Mom, I'm over the everyone wins because they participated. I'm over the mentality that because my child participated they deserve special recognition. I'm over us as adults telling our children how great they are at things, when they never even really tried.
I was stationed in Korea for a year once and met a man who was helping me with some medical stuff. We started talking about our families and children. He asked if my children played any sports and I said yes, they played soccer. I then asked if his children played soccer. He looked me in the face and said no, they don't, they will never be good enough to make is a profession so they don't play. At the time I thought this was horrible. Not play because they weren't good at it? Not play because they would never be professionals? I'm not advocating not playing at all, but I do like the honesty in his statement. He wasn't going to celebrate mediocrity. His society doesn't teach children that they are awesome just for trying.
They celebrate hard work and drive. They celebrate true advancement. Maybe we should take a look around and start truly thinking about what we're teaching our children. We should be teaching them that hard work and perseverance are too be celebrated. True advancement is too be celebrated. Merely showing up isn't.
When I was growing up you won a trophy if you're team won...you didn't get one just because you played. You lost the game if the other team scored more points than you...you didn't keep the score quiet and not tell who actually one or lost. You made the honor roll if you worked hard and made good grades all around...not if you kept up a good GPA with bad grades.
As a parent it frustrates me to no end that everyone is a winner. Look around your work center or your adult friends and you'll see that we aren't all winners. To excel at work you have work hard, to excel in college you have to work hard, to excel in life as an adult you have to work hard. You can't go to work and say hey I showed up give me a raise...really people?
This mother is right. Her child did not earn the opportunity to be on the honor roll. Sure he made A's in most of his classes, but clearly he struggled in two of them. He didn't earn it. He simply did enough to pass.
I'm with this Mom, I'm over the everyone wins because they participated. I'm over the mentality that because my child participated they deserve special recognition. I'm over us as adults telling our children how great they are at things, when they never even really tried.
I was stationed in Korea for a year once and met a man who was helping me with some medical stuff. We started talking about our families and children. He asked if my children played any sports and I said yes, they played soccer. I then asked if his children played soccer. He looked me in the face and said no, they don't, they will never be good enough to make is a profession so they don't play. At the time I thought this was horrible. Not play because they weren't good at it? Not play because they would never be professionals? I'm not advocating not playing at all, but I do like the honesty in his statement. He wasn't going to celebrate mediocrity. His society doesn't teach children that they are awesome just for trying.
They celebrate hard work and drive. They celebrate true advancement. Maybe we should take a look around and start truly thinking about what we're teaching our children. We should be teaching them that hard work and perseverance are too be celebrated. True advancement is too be celebrated. Merely showing up isn't.
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