Aug 2008 Article
Dr. Ron Koretz Corner
Think About It
In Fairfax, Virginia, a high school
administration decided that the
ranking of students made some of
them feel inferior. In order to
avoid creating any such problem,
they did away with the tradition of
having a class valedictorian.
Instead, any student with a grade
point average of 4.0 would be
designated as an “honor graduate”,
and each of them was rewarded with a
front-row seat at the graduation
ceremony and a dinner with the
principal.
There is a problem
with such political correctness.
The ultimate aim appears to be to
make everybody equal. However, if
that were to happen, it would be
impossible for there to be any
inequality. Consider the
implications of this policy. We
would have athletic contests which
would always have to end in a tie.
All people would make the same
amount of money. Everybody would
drive the same kind of car and eat
the same food. In the end, there
would be a very long line in front
of one door.
While it may be true that
competition can breed bad behavior,
especially when people cheat or look
for short cuts at the expense of
others, it is a basic component of
human behavior. For every winner,
there has to be a loser.
In the case of grades in high
school, those who obtain a 4.0 grade
point average usually have put in
extra effort and/or possess better
learning skills. More importantly,
they are not excelling academically
just to get a grade, but rather to
compete (the nasty word again) for
better college positions. Only one
of them can be first in their class,
but, as you know if you have been to
high school awards programs, the
others also receive recognition for
their achievements.
This Virginia high school is
actually making the wrong life
message to its entire student body,
in particular to those without 4.0
averages. I wonder if the
administrators have the same
philosophy about their basketball or
football teams. If they still
encourage their student-athletes to
play to win, aren’t they guilty of
hypocrisy?
