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Posted on 05/11/2019 4:35:56 PM PDT by bgill
MASON, Ohio — Mason High School students will no longer vie for valedictorian and salutatorian distinctions in an effort to "reduce the overall competitive culture" between students, school officials said.
Beginning with the Class of 2020, the high school will do away with both honors. School officials said it follows a yearlong study and focus group with students, staffers and families.
"It's about what it means to be happy and what it means to be successful and it's not just about the grade but it's about the whole child," Associate Principal Shanna Bumiller said.
Mason school officials made the announcement Thursday as part of an effort to improve students' mental wellness.
"I think in the long run it'll really going to change the atmosphere in the school in a positive way," Mason High School sophomore Ryan Griffith said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wlwt.com ...
Now that is just a silly idea.
Instead, they should award all incoming freshmen 4.0 cumulative GPAs at the outset. That will do wonders for cutting down the angst of competition and striving to be the best.
Just like when my daughters kindergarten soccer team wasn’t supposed to keep score (we lived in a town that DID keep score-on everything- starting in first grade). My daughter sure knew the score, and who score goals.
It’s the same with this BS.
Something like 98% of today's graduates want to work for the government, so they'll fit right in.
I had one heck of a time talking my own daughter out of her dream to work for the damned government.
No competition? How very Communist...
I’m glad you succeeded. If she hasn’t thanked you already she will someday.
I guess this will mean students who remain and are encouraged to be competitive will have an advantage in life.
I was told when my oldest daughter was growing up she was too competitive by many people. She was not rude about it but by nature and with a little encouragement from us she was very competitive.
The thing is she is very successful in her career, and life in general. She is far more successful than the children of other parents and teachers that told me all those years ago that she was “too competitive” so maybe their children needed to be more competitive...
People used to celebrate accomplishments. Now, people celebrate who can be the biggest the victim.
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I can’t believe we have extended kindergarten nap time with cookies and milk to 12th grade.
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And safe zones and Play-Doh when they get to college.
Great comment! +10
That’s a new twist to me, but it makes sense. The other side of the coin is kids taking all-AP, and as many AP classes as they can possibly schedule starting just as soon as their school lets them sign up. Some of the private prep schools are hothouse environments to start with, and the AP arms race adds to it. Of course, there’s always alcohol to help relieve the pressure. Life training for stressful careers, for sure, but I hate to see bright kids starting down that road at 15 and 16.
The branch of my company down under and the local government essentially rotate employees every so many months.
Mason: The school for Losers.
Real life is competitive, as these graduates will soon find out. Nobody guarantees “equal outcomes” in the real world.
That is the truth!
I am getting tired of whiney people too. Whine, whine...so many act like if you don’t post all your problems on social media or whine about every little bump in your life you have no problems. The whiners think everyone else has it easy, they are picked on by life. Everything is an excuse, being a minority, growing up poor, not able to walk into great jobs without effort, on and on. Very few now will say Am I doing something wrong, do I need to change? Nope, it is always the system or someone else at fault because life is not fair or easy.
I’m a big believer in the Honor Society. But (theoretically) I’m actually okay with getting rid of valedictorian and salutatorian.
Those two positions made sense in the old days, when every kid was taking essentially the same classes. But today, there are just too many different classes. So it’s crazy hard to fairly award valedictorian and salutatorian.
For example, who should be the valedictorian? (I’ve seen this happen.)
- Student A is a special ed kid. He has worked hard his entire high school career, and got all A’s. Since he never took an AP class, he never got an extra-weighted A. His GPA: 4.00.
- Student B is very bright. And he took the insanely difficult AP Physics class. That was his only B. That B was weighed as something between a regular B and a regular A. His GPA: 4.05.
- Student C is very bright. He got all A’s. To play it safe, he took the relatively easy AP History class. His A in AP History was weighed more than a regular A. His GPA: 4.10.
School’s pick for valedictorian: Student C.
My pick for valedictorian: I dunno.
I was one of 5 valedictorians of my graduating class. My nephew was one of 7. We both also participated in sports. I think we’d both be in agreement that “participation trophies” suck and healthy competition makes people improve themselves.
What a complete PC cop-out. By doing this, Stupid Principal, you remove a source of pride from the students who worked hard to compete and felt the taste of victory. No, instead you aim for the “Everyone is a winner” nonsense, taking away any motivation to EXCEL rather than just get by. What a perfect commie dummocrap you are!
In these United States, nobody can ever be unhappy. It is an injustice to be unhappy.
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