Reply to Silver Spring's Eastern Middle School gets slammed for rewarding good students

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
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I think I admire that attitude on your daughter's part, and I certainly admire that you have raised a child who recognizes what situations feel uncomfortable to her based on her conscience and who feels comfortable politely refraining from participating. Since it seems that you agree with this view -ie what you posted seems to be both your daughter's view and yours, do you mind if I ask you a question that I feel is possibly an extension of this topic?

Do those who object to the party because they believe it is divisive to only recognize the kids who have received straight As even though home life or socioeconomic concerns could be impacting the students' achievement feel the same in other "selective" or "competitive" situations? For example, are "good student" discounts from auto insurance companies similarly unethical? How do you feel about things like National Honor Society membership at the high school level (or NJHS for middle school students) or senior awards assemblies that recognize graduating high school seniors who have achieved certain grades or won certain scholarships? Actually, on that note, are scholarship competitions and college admissions similarly problematic?

These are genuine questions, and I am truly interested in your viewpoint. My stance, currently - and it could change as I hear and consider some extremely good arguments on both sides of this issue - is that results are what matter in life so they are what I would consider not only an acceptable basis for a reward but possibly the most appropriate basis. It is not always possible to quantify effort, or for one person's "working hard" to be equivalent to another person's use of the same phrase. I struggle to understand how the fact that one person has to work this hard, another person harder, and a third person less hard, changes or should change the the fact that only people who have certain statistics or accomplishments are eligible for certain opportunities.[/quote]

+1 well said.  [/quote]

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