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January 31, 2004
RAISING A NATION OF UNPREPARED WEENIES
In an example of utter weenieness run amok, the Nashville school system has stopped posting honor rolls - because a few parents complained that "their children might be ridiculed for not making the list." I'm not even sure where to begin on this. This has to be the most asinine development in an American school since the Kansas Flat Earth Society tried to remove references to evolution from all textbooks. (See my friend Tim's blog today for proof that the Flat Earth folks have since moved to Georgia.)
The jackasses who run the school district are justifying this travesty with the logic that "if there are some children that always make it and others that always don't make it, there is a very subtle message that was sent." Oh really? No, there's a very overt message being sent, you moron: that some kids work their asses off, apply themselves, pay attention in class, take their classwork seriously, and have earned the recognition that comes with that effort. You want a subtle message? How about this one: those students who don't make it must redouble their efforts and apply themselves more effectively - and perhaps the next time they will make it. Since when did the concept of rewarding excellence become somehow "unfair?"
I can't say that I hold the school district the most responsible for this outrage. After all, America is now a litigious society - and one of these oh-so-concerned parents may well sue the district. And it's those parents who are the utter idiots - both for having stolen the right of other kids to receive recognition, and for denying their own children the lesson about what life really is. (Never mind that the parents who have spent time complaining about this could have better expended their efforts helping their kids with their homework, perhaps.)
There are winners and losers, in everything life has to offer. Someone wins, and other people lose. That's not even inherently unfair; not only is it impossible for everyone to win all the time, but the possibility of winning is the very motivation for most of what we do. Success and failure are part of life; we strive for one and learn from the other. And frankly, nothing makes success feel better than having previously failed - when you've been down, you appreciate it more when you're on top.
But being just the lessons of winning and losing with grace, there's another lesson that those moronic Nashville parents are robbing their children of - and this one's really going to hurt. The fear is about the message that some kids always making it while others don't? Guess what, folks - that's life. Deal with it.
Now, I decidedly do not subscribe to the social darwinism that makes up much of the conservative mantra. I am not saying that the have-nots deserve their fate, or that we should just accept or encourage our own version of a caste system. But the reality of the world is that there are those whose talents and abilities will carry them above others - and deservedly so. The world's neither a fair nor an equal place - nor should it be, necessarily. If someone is smarter than me, and can turn their smarts into fortune or prominence, good for them. The only problem comes when people are not given a fair and equal chance to rise to the level of their abilities. But on a level playing field, there are still going to be some who achieve more than others. It's a fact of life - not an unfair one, either - and one that kids on both sides of the honor roll need to understand as early as possible. All anyone is owed is a fair chance and an even playing field.
Unfortunately, kids in Nashville are being raised to believe that everyone gets to win, that excellence should not be rewarded, and that all ability levels are equal. Those poor kids are going to have a hard lesson when they graduate. Watch that last step, kids - it's a doozy.
