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Go Ahead, Let Your Kids Fail

by Joe Mobley
9 replies
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a 10th-grade girl came up and... asked me:

"I understand what you're saying about trying new things, and hard things, but I'm in an International Baccalaureate program and only about five percent of us will get 4.0, so how can I try a subject where I might not get an A?"
I was floored. All I could think as I talked to this poor girl is "America, you're doing it wrong."
We are also teaching her that success is doing what comes easiest, which is the opposite of true.
But it does not need them to learn that success is a formula -- or a zero-sum game in which the race goes to the safest.
This is an excellent article. I hope I have left you interested enough to read it.

Go Ahead, Let Your Kids Fail - Bloomberg

By writing amusing if vulgar notes to my classmates, I was learning to write -- not learning to write in a way that would please English teachers, but learning to write in a way that would hold the interest of people who had no reason to read the note, other than the expectation that they would enjoy reading it.
Joe Mobley
  • Profile picture of the author Jacqueline Smith
    Fabulous article...thanks for posting it.

    The 'system' never felt right to me.....even as a very young child.....I wasn't sure why back then....I just knew it didn't seem right.

    Then I grew up......'the black sheep', 'unrealistic', 'dreamer', etc......but I didn't care (and still don't).....it just doesn't feel natural to me to follow the destructive path of the 'system'.

    My children were raised to think for themselves and learn from everything.....this didn't go over very well with others sometimes...but, they have both grown up to be two of the kindest, most compassionate, open-minded people I know.

    Being a 'black sheep' makes for a challenging life sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for anything.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    The REALLY bad thing is that intelligence, ability, and potential are VERY hard to quantify. Too many today don't even BOTHER!

    Suppose you have 2 students. One gets an A and the other gets a C. WHO is the better student and showing the most potential? You might say it is the person that got an A. Suppose that person studied some subjective interpretation of some philosophy or religion at an OBSCURE school with a lenient teacher, in 2012! What if the person that got a C was studying some well researched science and scored in the top of his class in nearly every class, in 1950.

    HECK, what ever happened to a guy that, after his "friend" practically forced him down the path, had his new computer basically go up in SMOKE!?!?!? Well, one reason it went up in smoke was that it used out of spec components, to save money. The guy became FAMOUS for using chips for unintended purposes. Outside of the CPU and memory, a lot of circuits were not made for their purpose. Well, he took the nicknae WOZ, and cofounded Apple Computer.

    Since MANY figure grades are a measure, and measure measurable quantities, and are standardized, most figure that an A is better than a C. Of course they are treated as awards, measure SUBJECTIVELY, AREN'T standardized, and an A isn't always better than a C.

    And I was just considering today, after seeing John Ratzenberger interviewed on a particular show. He is known for a few things but one thing is being an evangelist for US trades and manufacture. At this point, people are told HEALTHCARE is the place to be. But if say 30% of the US went into healthcare, the US would be in a LOT of trouble! I am in programming. If 30% went into MY industry, we would be in trouble. The US NEEDS manual work, entertainment, technology, etc.... and that DOES need manufacture. HECK, healthcare and programming would be nothing without it.

    As for potential? I heard a couple stories about how it happened, but the OFFICIAL one is the following. A customer went into a blacksmiths shop one day, and apparently had some problems. The blacksmith decided that making a new shape to the blade, and making it of a relatively new material, stainless steel, and polishing it would solve the problem. That apparently happened around 1837. People no longer had such a hard time plowing, etc... Some have said HE helped the westward expansion. You likely ALREADY know his name, but his company is far larger today. NOW, they even have gadgets that can automatically harvest fields of whatever, via computer. John*Deere Products & Services

    Funny thing, I never heard anyone talk about his grades or subjects he may have studied. HECK, I heard one story of lawyer, and problems HE had with so much he tried. Somehow, that didn't mean much when he became the 16th president of the US.

    So YEAH, measurements STINK, and they mean less now than ever! Unfortunately, so many are judged by them that some feel they DO have to play it safe.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
      The old saying goes, "The A students work for the C students."

      Joe Mobley

      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post


      Suppose you have 2 students. One gets an A and the other gets a C. WHO is the better student and showing the most potential?
      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
        Originally Posted by Joe Mobley View Post

        The old saying goes, "The A students work for the C students."

        Joe Mobley
        Hmm, the way I heard it was:

        "The A students become teachers, and the B students
        work for the C students."

        But yeah, there have been a lot of lies at the core
        of public education for a very long time now.
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by MikeTucker View Post

          Hmm, the way I heard it was:

          "The A students become teachers.
          IF ONLY!!!!!!!!!


          Steve
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        • Profile picture of the author Sumit Menon
          Originally Posted by MikeTucker View Post

          Hmm, the way I heard it was:

          "The A students become teachers, and the B students
          work for the C students."

          But yeah, there have been a lot of lies at the core
          of public education for a very long time now.
          The actual quote I think is - "School is a place where former A students teach mostly B students how to work for the C students."
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          • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
            The education system has certainly changed a lot and for the worse I might add.

            I made straight A's in high school but in no way shape or form was afraid to try new things. I was the biggest daredevil around. I was encouraged to try new things and be creative. As a matter of fact, so many of my A's came from "coloring outside of the lines". Many of the comments on my papers and projects were commending my creativity, my humor, and for "coloring outside of the lines'.

            But by the time my son was in school, those very things were the things that the educational system tried to label him as ADD and ADHD and try to get me to drug him, as well as a trouble maker which in turn caused him to be the object of bullying.

            I had to fight the entire board of education on his behalf and eventually pulled him from the district his freshmen year of high school. The new district was a progressive school and he excelled in everything! Not only his studies but his art and in sports. His name is still in the halls for breaking school records in dive 6 times!

            Our education system today is all kind of f'd up!


            Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author John Jonas Phil VA
    I would rather my child be mediocre at school but be street smart about life in general than be good at school and be unprepared in real life.
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