School CANCELS Honors Night to Not Offend Failing Students?

[alp227]

A Massachusetts middle school has cancelled its honors night so it doesn't offend students with bad grades. Ipswich Middle School David Fabrizio says honors night can be devastating to children who work hard but still get poor grades.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

1. Should other events be canceled as not to offend the majority of students?

Sports? Arts? Science?

[postulater]

2. They just decided that learning is not a competitive sport. nt

[Buzz Clik]

8. They don't sell tickets when the SAT and ACT tests are given.

Honoring achievement is perfectly fine ... unless the feeling is that failure is perfectly acceptable and that mediocrity is a noble goal.

[peace13]

3. Cancel sports...my son was a terrible athlete in school...

And others excelling in sports hurt his self esteem! These folks are nuts!

[tblue]

4. I understand it.

The smart successful kids will get their just desserts. There are many other ways to honor their high GPA. We had a suicide at my kid's school a year ago. It is a VERY competitive school with super super high achievers. And this nationally recognized science whiz kid ended her life at 16 years old. She didn't think she was good enough. It shocked and traumatized the entire school community. And don't even ask me about the kids who work their butts off and still get Bs. (Walk a mile in their shoes.) There are quite a few of them. So I am very sensitive to competition and conspicuous recognition when it comes to school children. It can be devastating if not handled with respect and sensitivity for those who fear not measuring up to the standard. The principal must be responding to something and knows better than we do what's best for that school's student body. So if that's what's right in that environment, who am I to disagree?

[alp227]

6. I had good grades but fell off a bit in jr. year.

At my HS sr. honor night I didn't get much recognition but I showed up anyway because I had a lot of friends who got more than I did and I still respected them for their success & their good influence on my studies and mindset. How else would you honor the high achieving students? And regarding suicides, perhaps a less competitive, "just reach YOUR goals" culture should be promoted at that school?

[Bucky]

5. This isn't about being PC. It's just a bad judgment call (and incomplete reporting).

Schools should celebrate and promote academic success. You can do other things to celebrate the hard work of the kids who don't hit the highest goal. At our school we do give out awards for "most improved" and those kids get recognized at the same ceremony as the High GPA awards assembly.

[cartach]

7. School CANCELS Honors Night to

cover up the fact that they're doing a poor job of educating,they hope that by sweeping the whole issue under the rug they will reduce any controversy about the matter.

[Beartracks]

9. I can see Limbaugh railing that this is a liberal thing, but...

... this kind of academic relativism seems more like a conservative thing.

=====================

[Generic Other]

10. Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron"

It is the year 2081. Because of Amendments to the Constitution, every American is fully equal, meaning that no one is smarter, better-looking, stronger, or faster than anyone else. The Handicapper General and a team of agents ensure that the laws of equality are enforced. The government forces citizens to wear "handicaps" (a mask if they are too handsome or beautiful, earphones with deafening radio signals to make intelligent people unable to concentrate and form thoughts, and heavy weights to slow down those who are too strong or fast). --wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron

[Rabid_Rabbit]

11. Thanks Generic Other

I am not familiar with this short story. Seems interesting and I will track it down.