In elementary school, hearing about classmates who are going to flunk the grade is the worst outcome at the end of the school year—failing strikes fear into many kids’ hearts, which causes them to strive to learn and be scholars. Witnessing a friend be held back a grade is confusing to kids, and often makes the flunkee a social outcast.
Elementary school is an important time to learn because of our developing brains, being held back is extremely significant in a child’s scholarly career. Though failing is an unfortunate circumstance, it is the result of not doing schoolwork. Many parents who aren’t involved enough in their child’s education contribute to their kids being held back a grade. Missing out on schoolwork is detrimental to a child’s ability to learn; flunking is the last option to help save their education, allowing both the student and parent to reflect on where they can improve.
As a result of K-12 schools discontinuing grade retention, the process of repeating the previous grade, students in high school aren’t truly prepared for the college curriculum. This is the result of a no-fail policy, which allows students to move onto the next grade despite failing their classes.
The rising 25% of students in the United States being absent from their classes causes an alarming threat to education. Holding them back becomes increasingly necessary for the sake of their education and America’s ability to thrive as an educated nation.
What Is Causing Students To Be Absent?
Introducing online classes during the COVID-19 quarantine incited a lot of carelessness in students. Many students ditched Zoom calls, ignored the teacher, and completely deserted their education. Online classes were mostly ineffective because of the lack of hands-on learning for those who needed it.
During an interview with Fallon Smith, a former teacher at Slauson Learning Center, she discussed how Zoom calls are a difficult environment to teach in. Many problems included students having their cameras off or ignoring teachers when they asked questions. Even students with their cameras on often weren’t paying attention, as they were usually doing unrelated things on their computer.
The most significant hurdle was the at-home environment. Fallon mentions that a student’s environment is the most important part of their education. However, many students’ environments were distracting and noisy, causing them to be less focused on school. Fallon has also witnessed parents not caring about their child’s participation. When she attempted to talk to the parents about their child not participating, they would often just say, “I tried,” or “You’re the teacher, you should do it.”
Parents engaging with their child’s education can foster the desire to learn. If parents ignore the importance of their engagement, their child can lose their understanding of education. This can lead to ditching classes, not doing schoolwork, or not attending school. This is why learning starts at home, where their parents can teach them why getting an education is important for their future and their career. Without grade retention, parents and their students gain a sense of ignorance toward their education.
What Are the Effects of No-Fail Schools?
Being able to graduate high school without understanding the consequences of failing takes a toll on one’s ability to care, leading to students who see no value in getting a good education for their careers.
Beyond having multiple absences in elementary school, many students get into high school and don’t do any classwork. The same students get F’s in their classes, and the school continues to allow these students to be promoted to the next grade. The false promotion gives students a sense of entitlement, as it starts the decline of discipline, affecting their adulthood in the long run.
Schools aiming to educate their students to the maximum ability seemingly forget that discipline is an important step in education. This lack of discipline as students move up grade levels, while academically staying in lower levels, forces teachers to instruct students who cannot comprehend the work. This continues into their senior year of high school, when they start applying for college.
Having discipline in college gives students a strong advantage in the organization of their daily lives because they usually have to do things independently, such as chores, going to class, doing homework, and studying. Unfortunately, many students who go through high school without absorbing skills such as critical thinking and close reading struggle the most in college. This can be seen by not going to class, lacking study hours, or failing their classes.
Without the process of failing, the education system influences a mentality that advocates for students to lose focus on the motivation to excel. As a nation, losing scholarly intelligence will be detrimental to our society.
