The Grading and Classification of Americas Youth

Grades, what is a grade? Don’t be too rash to explain the obvious. An obvious response would be a grade is a representation of a students work. But is it just that? It is my opinion that the grade has become not only the representation of a students work, but is an evaluation (and too often an inaccurate evaluation) and representation of the student themselves. I remember when I was in first and second grade when no understanding of the grade existed in my mind. I just got an “S” for satisfactory and a “U” for unsatisfactory. But as if that wasn’t bad enough, I soon was introduced to the letter grading system of A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s.

In retrospect, immediately upon the integration of this grading method a class system began to develop amongst my classmates and myself. The room went from being a group of kids to a cast system of smart, average and just plain stupid. And when it came down to group work you automatically knew who to go to if you wanted to get a good grade and who to avoid. And it’s just a matter of time before each student begins to grade themselves, not only in the classroom, but in life as well.

How can we explain the instillation of such values in people so young and with so much growing yet to do? America is said to be the land of opportunity. I think this saying feeds into the common misconception that everyone can get a piece of the pie. But is that really possible? When I take a look at American history, there seems to have always been a time when some group has been systematically deferred from economic, political or educational advancement. Furthermore, if everyone was truly “equal”, what would be the need of developing classes which justify who is entitled to the varying degrees of education, economic and political gain?

A child’s development is like that of a flowering plant. When given the proper nutrients (supplies) sun light (support) and time, beautiful transformations take place. But when a plants roots are restricted (synonymous to the restrictions put forth by inadequate grading system) a plant will never reach its fullest potential of growth, radiance and beauty, and neither will America’s youth.