The first time I wrote about not giving children an “F” was a few months ago. What I didn’t realize was that this policy seems to be spreading like a vile, malignant weed. I actually got into a pretty heated argument over lunch about this very topic.
At a growing number of middle schools and high schools across the country, students no longer receive failing marks when they fail. Instead, they get an “H” — for “held” — on their report cards, and they’re given a chance to rectify their poor performance without tanking the entire semester.
Educators in schools from Costa Mesa, Calif., to Maynard, Mass., are also employing a policy known in school hallways as ZAP — or “Zeros Aren’t Permitted” — which gives students an opportunity to finish the homework they neglected to do on time.
There are two problems (well, there’s more, but there are two really obvious ones) with this type of educational policy. One personal and one societal.
On a personal level, not allowing a child to “fail” is perhaps not really doing the kid any favors. Yes, I understand that failing at something can be devastating (believe me, I know that intimately). And I know how much we want all of our children to succeed and remove barriers to that success. By giving a child an “H” for “Held” instead of an “F” for “Fail”, we appear to be wiping any sense of personal responsibility or even driving home the message that actions (or lack thereof) have consequences. By wrapping the kid in cotton and making sure nothing hurts him (or her) it’s almost as if we are guaranteeing that he (or she)[] will always be a victim. A victim of an unfair world, a victim of circumstance, a victim of everything but his own actions. And lets face it, not everyone is able to perform in the academic arena. It happens. That’s what Special Education and developmental therapy are for.
This harms us as a society as well. What this ZAP[] policy does is ensure that education progresses as fast as the slowest learner. So in essence the standards are being lowered (don’t even get me started on No Child Left Behind). At times on this journal, I rant and rave about the stupidification of the US educational system. People need to start looking at the long term. If we don’t start making sure that the brightest of our young people are given the same kind of care and concern that these educators are paying to the “Held” students, all this innovation, all this electrifying culture that we have created in this country will start to fade. We’ll become as culturally relevant as modern Belgium[] on the world stage.
Are there easy solutions? Of course not. Nothing worth while is easy. One solution that seems to be going in and out of vogue is grouping students with others of like academic performance. Yes, this is stratification and can engender elitism. However, this can allow educators to teach at a level tailored to get the most from each grouping.[]
Like I said, like everything in life, nothing is easy. But I shudder to think what will happen when this children get slammed in the face by the real world.
