Calgary school eliminates honour roll; "hurts pride and self-esteem" to not make it

[Senator Clay Davis]

Instead every student gets a participation medal....

A Calgary school’s decision to stop rewarding students for their academic achievements has reignited a debate over whether such award programs should remain in the classroom.

Roughly 250 students in Grade 7 to 9 will no longer compete for the honour roll after St. Basil Elementary and Junior High School axed academic awards and year-end ceremonies.

“Awards eventually lose their lustre to students who get them, while often hurting the self-esteem and pride of those who do not receive a certificate,” school officials said in a letter to parents explaining the decision

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10...-dont-make-it/

Society is getting softer and softer every day it seems.

[pylon]

Why don't we just get it over with, and give every single child on the face of Earth one of these:

[Puppet Guy]

[polak]

The best part of these threads is when all the people chime in saying "back in my day, we blah blah blah..." and talk about how much less babied they were as children, when its THEM (as in their generation) that are putting these stupid "everyone is special" rules in to place.

The kids aren't the problem. Its you as parents.

[Cuz]

I think it's kids who give each other bad self esteem, not the grades you receive....

[troutman]

What does it mean to be on the honour roll?

I've spent a lot of time recently meeting with teachers, as my oldest son was a candidate for the GATE (gifted) program. What we noticed, is that many of the kids in GATE or on the honours roll, are not necessarily the most talented students. Many seem to be under extreme pressure from their parents. Should 12 year old kids be doing 3-4 hours homework a night? Are they missing something in the quest to be on the honour roll?

[pylon]

Originally Posted by polak

The best part of these threads is when all the people chime in saying "back in my day, we blah blah blah..." and talk about how much less babied they were as children however its THEM (as in their generation) that is putting these stupid "everyone is special" rules in to place.

The kids aren't the problem. Its you as parents.

I am not a parent yet, and I certainly wouldn't support this decision. Some of the best lessons I learned in life, were because of epic failures, and the hurt of seeing others succeed. Being a massive failure as a student, is what drives me to try and be a success as an adult.

[Puppet Guy]

what are the statistics on how many people became trainwrecks as adults because they didn't make the honour roll in junior high?

[GGG]

Every kid in junior high can be an honors student if they work hard and have parental support. So it isn't exclusionary of anyone.

I don't mind getting rid of the ceremony for because I am not sure there is any benefit from public acknowledgement of people's skills but I think kids at a minimum should get a certificate saying that they have achieved.

[polak]

To add, I don't think there was ever any kids in my grade that were bummed about not being on honor roll?

I don't think anyone has ever said "all the cool kids got honors"...

[CaptainCrunch]

You don't really need to do 3 or 4 hours of homework a night to be on the honor roll, you just need to actually keep up.

Do I care about the awards ceremony stuff, nope in the grand scheme of things as long as the actual grading isn't being effective, whatever. The minute they drop grads in favor of an everybody is special system then I might lose my nut.

On the other hand as these kids get into the grades 10,11,12 where the marks are really counting towards university then you have to find incentive.

My sisters boy is really struggling now and he might not make university because he futzed around for the last three years and now he's in panic mode in his last year, but that's more on the parents and the teachers then anything else of not letting him know how serious this is earlier.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by GGG

Every kid in junior high can be an honors student if they work hard and have parental support. So it isn't exclusionary of anyone.

I don't mind getting rid of the ceremony for because I am not sure there is any benefit from public acknowledgement of people's skills but I think kids at a minimum should get a certificate saying that they have achieved.

you guys have a ceremony?!?!

all we got was 'stamp' on our report card that said 'honor roll'

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by troutman

What does it mean to be on the honour roll?

I've spent a lot of time recently meeting with teachers, as my oldest son was a candidate for the GATE (gifted) program. What we noticed, is that many of the kids in GATE or on the honours roll, are not necessarily the most talented students. Many seem to be under extreme pressure from their parents. Should 12 year old kids be doing 3-4 hours homework a night? Are they missing something in the quest to be on the honour roll?

Ah, it'd the old book smarts v. street smarts debate (for lack of a better term).

From my experience when I was in high school (about 15 years ago now), the students in my grade that were at the top of the honour roll were not necessarily the smartest students, but they worked the hardest and were in a sense classically book smart. Of course there were students that were just plain smart and didn't have to work nearly as hard, but those book smart students were rewarded because of the way classes were set up; they simply had to memorize material and they were rewarded. Common sense, rational thought and the ability to synthesize ideas was not necessary in most classes to get high grades.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by troutman

What we noticed, is that many of the kids in GATE or on the honours roll, are not necessarily the most talented students. Many seem to be under extreme pressure from their parents. Should 12 year old kids be doing 3-4 hours homework a night? Are they missing something in the quest to be on the honour roll?

This is an excellent point. The expectations placed on these kids by their parents are crazy. Don't get me wrong, work ethic is very important, but I am not sure it needs to be developed by doing 3-4 hours of homework a night. Learn an instrument, do some chores, get a part-time job if age appropriate.
Would be interesting to see what the success rates of these kids are in post-secondary education .... I mean if they are pounding out that much time in junior and senior high, could it lead to academic "burnout" at some point.
My kids are still in elementary, but if they showed academic aptitude, I am not sure I would even put them in IB or AP due to the time commitments that would take away from other things that help them develop cognitively as well as socially.

[CaptainCrunch]

Its like in university when you were put on the Dean's list. On reflection was that really a good thing, what if your dean was Richard Nixon?

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

You don't really need to do 3 or 4 hours of homework a night to be on the honor roll, you just need to actually keep up.

Do I care about the awards ceremony stuff, nope in the grand scheme of things as long as the actual grading isn't being effective, whatever. The minute they drop grads in favor of an everybody is special system then I might lose my nut.

On the other hand as these kids get into the grades 10,11,12 where the marks are really counting towards university then you have to find incentive.

My sisters boy is really struggling now and he might not make university because he futzed around for the last three years and now he's in panic mode in his last year, but that's more on the parents and the teachers then anything else of not letting him know how serious this is earlier.

I remember students that slacked in earlier grades say that once they hit grades 11 and 12 that they were going to try now and get good grades. Yeah, didn't happen. They had got into bad studying habits and did not learn in earlier grades the habits necessary to have success in school.

[Hockeyguy15]

It all started when they stopped keeping score in kids sports.

Everyone is a winner today! What a crock.

[polak]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

My sisters boy is really struggling now and he might not make university because he futzed around for the last three years and now he's in panic mode in his last year, but that's more on the parents and the teachers then anything else of not letting him know how serious this is earlier.

The option to upgrade your marks has really thrown out the need to do overly well in high school anyways. I think for most people I know (anecdotal I know), the realization that their grades aren't good enough to get into whatever post secondary they wanted to do makes them strive to do well when they upgrade.

For example my math grades were abysmal in High School and I could never get myself to care, but when I upgraded I knew that this was my last chance and I needed to nail it to get my average up to get into school after. Most people aren't upgrading a full course load anyways, so it's a lot easier.

Outside of that, if your not able to get motivated to do well when you upgrade than you're probably not cut out for post secondary anyways.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Cuz

I think it's kids who give each other bad self esteem, not the grades you receive....

The irony of this idiocy is that it is the parents/administrators that are teaching the kids that not being on the honour roll = you are a failure and should feel bad. Where such lists are meant to be positive reinforcement for those that make it, and a challenge to be achieved for those that don't, these shortsighted morons have turned it into negative reinforcement for not making the honour roll.

What this policy does is punish kids that achieve. It tells these students that mediocrity is good enough and that trying to excel is undesirable.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by troutman

What does it mean to be on the honour roll?

I've spent a lot of time recently meeting with teachers, as my oldest son was a candidate for the GATE (gifted) program. What we noticed, is that many of the kids in GATE or on the honours roll, are not necessarily the most talented students. Many seem to be under extreme pressure from their parents. Should 12 year old kids be doing 3-4 hours homework a night? Are they missing something in the quest to be on the honour roll?

Yeah, I agree with a lot of that. I'm kind of annoyed at school and the amount of homework. So much time seems to be spent in quest of good grades and test scores, and often not in quest of actual learning of the concepts. Not to mention countless news stories about obese kids, yet we make them drop out of their sports so they can spend hours a night doing homework.

I don't know that there are good answers out there, or even if this is the right decision. But simply scoffing at efforts to de-emphasize honor rolls as being babying and soft is not very thoughtful.