F’s For Society Or For Students?
The American education system has been taking some serious hits recently. In
an article entitled "What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s," Carl
Singleton suggests that students are merely attending class, but do not complete
an acceptable level of learning. Teaching levels are of low quality and
impersonal in nature with an emphasis on passing the students from their
classroom to the next without ensuring their level of learning meets the minimum
requirements. By a widespread issuing of F’s, we as a society must look at the
cause and effect aspect this will produce. Giving F’s will not solve the
problems Singleton suggests, but create new ones. Society must be prepared to
deal with the results of more F’s by understanding how it affects the family,
student, and schools themselves.
As part of his argument for sending home
more F’s, Singleton feels that this would force parents to take time out and
help children improve their grades. Many parents do not play an integral role in
encouraging good study habits by allowing their children to watch television as
opposed to doing homework. By sending home F’s, this would force the parent to
address the issue, take away privileges, and become more active in the education
process. According to Singleton, the responsibility of failing children belongs
at home with the parents.
It is a noble idea to have parents spend more
time with their children and a core value that many politicians promote, but the
reality of this situation does not always leave enough room for parent
involvement. Singleton must realize that the majority of school-aged children
are products of single-parent families, multi-family households, or dual working
parents. The report card in the mail with a barrage of F’s will only create a
hostile environment between the parent and child. The over-worked, over-stressed
parent will yell at the child and could potentially discourage the child’s
willingness to work harder on achieving better grades. As mentioned earlier,
this is the cause and effect issue at hand regarding parents and
F’s.
Assigning F’s does not leave total responsibility on the parents.
This would also "force principals, school boards, and voters to come to terms
with cost as a factor in improving our educational system." Singleton suggests
that with the reality of failing students will come the obvious need to spend
more money in bringing these students up to a passable level. "One way or
another," says Singleton, "they will learn the material."
School systems
across America are in need of additional funding to run a program that is
adequate for today’s students. Keep this in mind next time you answer your door
to a neighbor kid or your friend in the next cubicle over asks you to buy some
candy to help support the school programs. When you start to send home F’s, the
school board becomes aware of problems in the school system, but so do upset
parents who contact their district council members. Before you know it, the
school is on the 10:00 o’clock news for having children that do not meet the
minimum standards of education. The reputation of the school is at stake. Yet
again, cause and effect of F’s as related the school systems.
Let’s also
consider the adolescent child who struggles with daily personal battles of
trying to fit in. Social pressures are beyond what adults can really understand.
True, we have already traveled that road, but to an adolescent, this is new
territory where self-esteem, self-awareness, and self-efficacy dominate their
total existence. Giving an F to the child and holding them back from their peers
who advance to the next grade level will only destroy their personal value
system. Take it even further and consider the anger and embarrassment the child
will feel from his family. I am sure that a small percentage of parents will see
the F as a warning flag and will be prompted into action, but not a large enough
percentage to deem the widespread giving of F’s as a solution.
I do not
mean to say that we should continue to pass students who do not meet the
standards to save face, but that careful consideration should be enforced with a
student who doesn’t meet the standards. This calls for more awareness at the
elementary levels. Perhaps we should reduce the number of students per teacher,
address the overpopulation issues many school systems face, or provide more
direct attention to students who show signs of struggling through the
assignments. By encouraging parents early on to be proactive in their child’s
education will also reduce the amount of failing students that just get passed
through the system. Finally, a reevaluation of the teaching styles should be
addressed. We need teachers who will motivate our children, challenge their
thinking, and tap into their creativity.
As previously stated, giving F’s
will not solve the problems Singleton suggests, but create new ones. Society
should be prepared to accommodate children’s needs of education by supporting
the education systems, the family, and the students. We need to focus on the big
picture of not failing our students, but help them learn. Until we reach that
level of understanding, our students will not be deserving of the F’s – we
will.