A scene most parents and kids are familiar with is that of an academic awards ceremony. There’s nothing wrong with this. It’s a perfectly fine way to honor kids for achieving their goals. But as the event starts to drag on, and people are only half paying attention, the fact that not all of these kids should be getting awards in the first place becomes clear. For example, at my elementary school, they had 3 levels of honor roll, the lowest one attainable by getting up to 2 Cs. Are these really the grades we want to encourage the next generation to get? Why do we applaud mediocrity? It could because we just want to encourage kids to reach their dreams, but maybe our academic standards have lowered over the years.
Less Awards Mean More Competition
The less awards there are, the more kids will be driven to win them. If a 7-year-old is told that a C leads to the same outcome as an A, which one do you think they’ll strive for? Instead, if they see that the kids who put in a little extra effort are rewarded, then they’ll be inspired to do the same. This way, everyone achieves more.
Mediocre Kids Become Mediocre Adults
In the real world, you don’t get rewarded for doing average work. You have to learn at an early age to stay at the head of the pack. There is no benefit to teaching kids that mediocrity will pay off. Even if it’s just to boost self-esteem, it can form a pattern that can continue throughout a child’s life.
It’s Wrong to Lessen the Meaning of Awards to People That Deserve Them
To the kids that work hard for them, awards can mean a lot. It’s not ok to decrease that significance just so some kids that are barely slipping by with a B- can feel accomplished. If the one at the front of the class who always raises their hand and studied for hours for every test is getting the same amount of recognition as the kid that lurks in the back row and is secretly on their phone the whole time, something is wrong.
Thoughts of a Middle School Nerd 