Sen Perfect @Senperfect

Elsewhere in Tennessee, Nashville to be exact, buying research papers the school system is doing away with the posting of the “honor roll,” because of complaints by the parents of kids who didn’t make it.

Oh brother, is this country going backwards or what?

The irate parents claim that by honoring the superior students it causes people to consider those students not on the list as dummies.

Here we go again. The idiots, in this case the parents, are again prevailing. The purpose of an honor roll is to single out those students who are superior, not to infer that those not on it are stupid. What’s next, the elimination of “cum laude,” “magna cum laude,” and “summa cum laude” on college diplomas so as not to insult the average graduate of MIT or Harvard?

Look, not everyone is an Einstein, in fact very few are. Those who perform above average though should be recognized for their hard work and accomplishments, and those who aren’t should strive to improve themselves. One method of accomplishing this is to set goals and earn rewards for meeting them. Public recognition is one proven way of doing so. Taking away these incentives only serves to promote mediocrity.

Did I, you ask, achieve honor roll status during my academic years? Yeah, I made it a few times, but not with regularity. I wasn’t proud of not graduating with honors, but I wasn’t ashamed either. Frankly, I was happy to stay off the daily detention list, most of the time.