Posted
1/25/2004 09:05:00 PM
by Douglas
This is funny, and by 'funny,' I mean horrifyingly and ridiculously
stupid:The school honor roll, a time-honored system for rewarding "A" students, has become an apparent source of embarrassment for some underachievers.
As a result, all Nashville schools have stopped posting honor rolls, and some are considering a ban on hanging good work in the hallways — at the advice of school lawyers.
After a few parents complained their children might be ridiculed for not making the list, school-system lawyers warned that state privacy laws forbid releasing academic information, good or bad, without permission.
Some schools since have put a stop to academic pep rallies. Others think they may have to cancel spelling bees. And schools across the state may follow Nashville's lead.
I know this sounds like it came from
The Onion, and I wish it had.
Is this what
No Child Left Behind means? Are we so obsessed with the cult of self-esteem worship that we can no longer point out who's ahead and who's behind? You can't have a first place without a second place, and if we all tie, then
everyone loses.