Empahsizing Achievement
In all schools alike, there is an emphasis placed on student leadership, success, and achievement. Children are repeatedly told from elementary school through college, that with hard work and dedication anything is possible and they have the potential for greatness. This notion, in and of itself is not potentially harmful to a child, however, when greatness is defined in terms of power and money, a warped view of the important factors in life is created. Not every person desires to be a leader just as not every person should be a leader. The concept of success and achievement poses a similar predicament. Not every child is destined to be a doctor or lawyer when they grow up nor should every child become one simply for the prestige that it offers. Every position in society, from the custodian to the research scientist, plays an equally important function in society. Besides placing emphasis on high achievement, many schools have adopted the practice of increasing children's self esteem. While it is important to help children embody a positive self-image, esteem is something that ought to be developed through achievement rather than praise. Recently, schools have done away with choosing first place winners
However, this will lower the standards of expectation and eliminate the competitive drive to be the best. This way more students feel as though they are successful and talented individuals. When students are taught that success over happiness is the highest good then that student will take whatever measures necessary to achieve that. Under this premise, there is no sufficient reason for a student to put forth the time and effort needed to complete the assignment properly. Education is not the sole influencing factor in a child's life. In school sponsored sports, to ensure that every student has the opportunity to participate freshmen teams have been created and most schools have regulations to monitor the playing time of each athlete. Some may argue that this will help to increase student's self-confidence under the premise that every student should be made to feel like number one. If children are conditioned to believe that the highest good is success and achievement then it comes as no surprise that people will take the simplest and most leisurely path to achieve that. and replaced it with an emphasis on the value of participation. As a result of this attitude, many advanced placement or accelerated courses have been diluted to a simpler level that guarantees success not for the advanced few rather for the larger mass of students who want to be advanced for the prestige that it offers. In closing, it is important that schools and parents alike aid children in achieving the success that they, as an individual are capable of, developing a positive self-image, and discovering that success is measured in terms of happiness rather than prestige. A number of teachers at the middle school and high school level will assign work simply for the sake of having something for students to turn in. A similar situation is present with academics and the concept of homework or "busy work". However, if the assignment is graded on the basis of whether or not the student completed the assignment rather than answering the problems correctly, the reinforcement is useless. This attitude is very prevalent in schools that offer advanced placement courses.
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