After a few parents voiced concern that their children would face ridicule because they did not make the honor roll, all Nashville, Tenn., schools have stopped posting the honor rolls on the advice of school lawyers.
Some schools have stopped academic pep rallies and some are thinking of canceling spelling bees. One school has taken it a step further, doing away with the honor roll completely.
According to an Associated Press story, principal Steve Baum got rid of it at Julia Green Elementary School, saying, “I discourage competitive games at school. They just don’t fit my world view of what a school should be.”
| The Issue: Nashville schools refuse to put up an honor roll, worried that underachieving children will feel left out |
The idea is ridiculous, taking political correctness too far. The honor roll is a great source of motivation and children need to learn how to deal with competition if they are going to function in society.
Kids are resilient, and probably are not taking the poor grades as hard as their parents. The school is not plastering the names on the wall of those who do not make the honor roll, after all.
It is also something of a double standard; outlets are provided for athletic competition for those who excel in athletics, and there should be outlets for those who excel in academics.
The basis for not posting the honor roll is a Tennessee state law that prohibits releasing any academic information without permission. The solution school officials have come up with is to have permission slips made for Nashville’s 69,000 students so that the parents can sign off on their child’s name appearing on the honor roll. While this solves the legal trouble, it still does nothing about the exclusion of underachieving students
In the same Associated Press story, Teresa Dennis, a principal at another Nashville school, said many parents have suggested the school spend its time doing other things. She summed it up well:
“It does seem really silly.”
