Well, this one takes the cake.
On Thursday, The Canadian Press ran a story about an Edmonton teacher who was suspended for giving zeros for incomplete work.
And if that didn’t make your jaw drop, he feared a second teacher would also be met with the same fate.
The suspended teacher was disciplined last month after he refused to follow school policy that forbids teachers from handing out zeros for work or tests not done, the story says. It goes on to say that school policy states the mark not be counted and the student be expected to make up the work.
That’s exactly how we should teach our children, isn’t it? Let’s teach them that every time in life they feel they simply don’t want to do something, they’re off the hook.
Heck, let’s give them a second chance! And even if it takes double the time, let’s give them the same grade as the student who worked so hard to pass in his/her assignment on time, or showed up for that test they so dreaded.
That’s not the way it works in the real world.
That is a terrible thing to teach our children – the very people we are going to rely on in the coming years. When we’re no longer able to give them handouts, then what?
We’ve taken “fair” to a whole new level, and perhaps with good intentions, but is it going as planned?
Students are marked differently these days, they’re moved through the grades when they should have been held back – and do we all really think the best way to help children feel included is by not giving them failing grades?
Part of the benefits of our school years is growing as individuals, not just learning.
We need to sit outside the class and feel ashamed for being sent there – it makes us learn right from wrong.
We need to want to keep up with the physically fit children in gym class – it helps us learn the importance of physical activity.
Students need to learn that if they didn’t put in the effort their peers did, then they do not deserve a passing grade.
It sounds harsh, but it’s reality.
We’re raising a new generation that will never know the value of hard work, or the satisfaction of seeing it pay off. Graduating high school, successfully making it through post-secondary, and landing a good job requires a tremendous amount of work, and seeing it through is one of life’s greatest lessons.
Once you’ve taken off that book bag to trade it in for a car, house, bills and responsibility, that’s when the reality will become too much. God knows if you decide not to pay your bills, you won’t get an extension, a pat on the back, and a bright, shiny, gold star sticker with an A+.
If we really want our children to feel good about themselves during their school years and part of the class, let’s focus on organized sport that’s affordable for each of them.
Why not bring back the school uniform – if they all look the same, how could they bully based on looks? If they all look the same, how could they determine whose family might have more money than theirs?
School teaches you to read, write, spell, add, multiply and subtract, but it also prepares you for life.
And life isn’t all roses, passing grades and shiny stickers.
Sometimes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Renell LeGrow, Editor
