The results of the ranking of Ron Brent elementary was very alarming, and something many of us are not surprised with. What is surprising was the opinion piece I read by Daryl Beauregard and the assertion that Prince George is somehow unique in having vulnerable families and educators being vilified.
Prince George is not the only city with vulnerable families, and not the only one with district problems at its very core from the top down. It is my contention that the demise of discipline, and the so-called rights afforded students, have caused the deterioration of education standards here and elsewhere.
In one SD57 school, the honour roll was removed as it put expectations on children that could not rise to the standards required; many standards were set too high for students without the financial and social mechanisms needed to excel. The honour roll was replaced with cookies at this school, yes...cookies, but that was done away with as only certain students got a cookie; unfair treatment, either they all get one or nobody gets one. The lesson of hard work, reward and achievement, excelling, and being successful, had obviously lost its importance. Why is it then that some schools behave like they are private academies when it comes to athletics, and mandate financial support from parents to succeed at it? What about the academics?
When sports days got rid of medals and started to reward mediocrity, we also outlawed expectations. The inability to excel in sports began to filter into the class where now a student is not allowed to fail a grade but simply slip through the cracks. Excellence in school begins at home, and must be maintained by students, parents, and teachers alike. This includes discipline and expectations. Today most educators are simply not allowed to do their jobs and can be disciplined if they try.
Life isn't fair, life can be downright nasty, and I have seen at university as someone in his fifties, the results of coddling children too much, protecting them too much, and not pushing them enough. Just enough, isn't good enough, and there is no replacement for hard work when it comes to success.
Get back to expectations, achievement, rewards, and you will make better students and people. By the way, when you do reward someone, don't do it with cookies. Trivial tokens are an insult to the hard work that secures success.
Michael Maslen
Prince George
