Why High Grades Might Be Bad

Brookfield is a highly academically competitive society. It’s not a secret, it’s the truth. Students in the top ten percent of any given Brookfield Central class have GPAs over 4.0. This means not only are 10 percent of BC students taking college level “Advanced Placement” courses, but are also getting A's in them. This past year, BC had an average of 25.0 on the ACT, slightly behind Brookfield East’s average of 25.3, the highest in the history of the Elmbrook School District. These are the kinds of statistics that worry me.

So why am I troubled by success? Well, one must consider the source of this stellar academic performance — is it from students’ intrinsic motivation for learning or is it from pushy Brookfield parents? From my observations, I can safely say the reality of the situation seems to overwhelmingly point towards the latter. Really, it’s an undeniable fact.

Parents are increasingly coming to teachers on their kids’ behalf to ask for extra credit and boosts in grades. Many teachers receive emails from parents about the homework their children were assigned. Others are confronted by angry moms and dads on why their kids were “given” low grades.

Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous?

This kind of attitude is what makes sophomores take four AP classes on top of their other courses and extra-curriculars. This kind of workload is comparable to that of a college student. In fact, many BC alums agree that freshman year of college is a breeze compared to junior and senior year of high school at BC. Is this the kind of pressure we want to be putting on our 14-year-olds?

I must admit, I, too, was a sophomore who took four AP courses on top of multiple activities. My junior year, I averaged three hours of sleep on school nights and constantly got sick from not taking care of myself. School was quite literally bad my health. No 16-year-old should be forced to go through that.

Well to be honest, I wasn’t forced either. I pulled two, sometimes three, all-night study sessions in a row, studying for AP United States History and I enjoyed every moment of it. Learning about the mistakes and the successes of our forefathers was almost as intriguing as the elegance of Laplace’s Theorem and Newton’s heat equation. Pericles came into my mind and spoke to my soul, where I would carefully analyze why my brain behaved the way it did using Freudian theory. Although it was harder than anything I could have possibly imagined I would do not hesitate to do it again and again and again. Learning was my obsession; it became my reason for living.

There are a million things that I am not proud of, but my love for learning is my biggest pride. My teachers wish this upon every single one of their students. I just wish parents would hope for the same in their children. Please, parents, nurture a learning spirit in your children and not an unhealthy competitive lust for high grade point averages. Teach them to appreciate history, absorb literature, love math’s perfection, and question the laws of science.

A's are not worth a lifelong hatred for school and learning. Don’t teach them that doing homework is more important than video games, but that a book offers so much more action than “Call of Duty.” Teach them to be thankful for their teachers and not to hate them for every B they receive. Not only will they get higher grades, but will continue to strive for knowledge the rest of their lives.

I am blessed to have had parents who came into parenthood knowing this fact and teachers who encourage a love for learning. There is nothing I am more thankful for than my parents for teaching me how to wonder and my teachers for telling me where to start.