“Endure the F word!”
It is common knowledge that in order to pass a class at the high school or college level, a student must achieve a certain grade level. If this is not achieved the consequence includes failing the class, and having to retake it the following year or semester. This is the main issue being discussed by Mary Sherry in the article “In praise of the F word”. Her main objective in this paper is to distinguish the importance of parent and teacher coherence that it is in the better good of the child to stick to the pass or fail method. She implies that if teachers pass student on grounds other then academic ability, or parents do the child’s homework so they pass, that it will hurt the child in the long run.
I strongly agree with Sherry when she implies that passing a student based on criteria other than knowing the material, does in fact hurt the student in the long run. I agree with Sherry because my own personal experiences confirm this. When I was in the ninth grade my algebra two teacher passed me knowing fully that I had left his class the same way I came in. I didn’t know diddly squat! I went on the next year cheating off of friends to get by. I didn’t know last year’s information so how could I possibly be ready for the next level? I am now in math analysis two years later, and am struggling to keep above a 78%. If I could do it again I really wish I had been failed and not allowed to move to the next level. This would have stung at first but I now know it would have helped me in the long run.
I also agree with Sherry when she says parent should support the teacher’s decision to fail a student, if they have not learned the material. I say this because I can put myself into the shows of those of my friends who have been in this situation. My friend Ian was struggling immensely to keep up in his writing class. Instead of his parents understanding the importance of learning the material, they urged their daughter to help write Ian’s essays. Of course his grade picked up and he was able to pass. His parent didn’t want an F to show up on his college application, and thought it was disgraceful to flunk a class. But does urging a child to cheat help in the long run? The answer is no. Ian continued to struggle in writing and never learned the writing skills he need to comprise a good essay. It also gave him the impression that when you can’t do something yourself it is okay to cheat and use others hard work as his own. This is a horrible lesson that will affect him throughout life. Ian is also given the notion from his parents that he isn’t good enough for their standards.
In Sherry’s article she asserts that, “Flunking as a regular policy has just as much merit today as it did two generations ago. We must review the threat of flunking and see it as it really is—a positive teaching tool.” What Sherry is saying is that flunking is a positive device that has worked for many years, and in actuality has very positive effects. I agree with Sherry on this point and I feel it needs emphasizing due to the fact that some people don’t understand its importance. The system of flunking works in many great ways. I feel it motivates kids to do their best because it works as a threat. Who want to be the senior in a freshman class? If the child understands the consequence doesn’t it put a fire under their seat to do their best? As a student, I sure believe it does. This also works as a great tool, because it weeds out the kids that don’t understand the material. This keeps them from having to go through the agony of struggling at the next level when they really aren’t ready for it. Imagine if there was no system put in place to fail those kids that aren’t at a high enough academic ability to progress. Would you want a heart surgeon working on you if he or she only got their credentials because of laps in a failed system? I would think not, that is ludicrous. This is why the method of flunking works so well. Every one gains from this method of failing, especially the child. They need to get proper help to reach academic ability, how can this happen if a teacher passes a student who isn’t ready?
In Sherry’s article she states, “it would mean facing the tough reality that passing kids who haven’t learned the material—while it might save them grief for the short term—dooms them to long term illiteracy” This quote shows that passing a student who isn’t ready has many negative repercussions. I touched on this point earlier in this essay but would like to point out the long-term effect pertaining to the student’s grades. It is obvious that high school classes start out at a certain level and get harder as the student advances to the next level. This is apparent in almost all academic classes. I would like to point out the effect of this theory on the student grades. For example Sally is a freshman in high school. She was struggling in Spanish one and had an F. The teacher gave her extra credit so that she could at least pass the class with a low D. The next year Sally is in Spanish two struggling more immensely having not learned the information needed for the class. Because of this she again receives a very poor grade. Now her GPA is suffering. Had her Spanish one teacher failed her, she could have retaken the class and pass with an A. Next year shed would take Spanish two knowing the contents needed to succeed and could then get an A. What I mean by this is that if a teacher passes a student who isn’t academically ready it will immensely affect their grades in the long wrong. If they fail them they can re-teach the needed information, which sets them up to succeed.
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