After my first test in AP Psychology, over a month ago, I didn’t know grades had been released until a classmate of mine demanded one day, “Zoe, what’d you get?”
So I told that classmate the truth. I didn’t even know that scores had come out. As the lunch bell rang in the background, they told me to just tell them as soon as I checked Infinite Campus. I shrugged their demand off and walked to my lunch spot.All I could hear, receding into the distance, were wails of “please tell me!” and muttered assumptions that “it must have been so bad.”
But no, they never wound up hearing my test scores.
Now, the satisfaction of bullying others to maintain your superiority over them is amazing, right? It feels really good, right? Right? From years of experience dealing with people at this school, I understand. I know you’re all curious, and this whole demanding-grades situation generally just springs from toxic curiosity.
However, using grades to rank how smart you are compared to your peers becomes personal. Plenty of students desire to know their peers’ grades to feel good about their own grade. Many students base their self-worth on their grades, forgetting that their report card doesn’t describe them as a human being.
You’re not an “A+ person” or a “D- somebody.” Your worth is so much more than your grades. Those A’s and D’s aren’t your personality; they won’t be the first thing on your mind anymore in 10 years. If your academic record gets that bad, summer courses and extra help are waiting for you. Don’t let a small portion of your life become the front and center of your entire existence. Nobody wants to hang out with a person who peaked in high school, anyway.
From the start of our school years, adults constantly remind us to keep our grades private. If you don’t, have fun suffering absolute humiliation and destruction in the eyes of all the kids around you. After all this embarrassment, why would we, people who’ve apparently learned better, go against all we’ve been told?
It’s for instant gratification, the thrill that we are finally, measurably “better” than the people around us. Students are motivated purely by the race for better grades, not by wanting to learn new ideas. Tests usually spike students’ anxiety considerably, since they believe a bad score will mean the end of their hopes and dreams. If this mentality isn’t fixed, suicidal thoughts can occur based on how profound the issue is. Deep learning isn’t being fostered through this grade exchange, and it’s obvious to see that in our school.
Comparison culture needs to be trashed. We can’t keep living like this, in constant scrutiny and judgment over people around us. Instead, we could try asking how they felt about whatever quiz, whatever test. Asking people how they did personally is a complete turn. Emotions are healthier than asking what your pinpoint grade was. Asking for emotions and feelings regarding a subject or a test allows the receiver to briefly and politely state their business without having to go through the standardized public humiliation.
Though if you were to publicly bash your friend for their grades in public, maybe you shouldn’t be friends. With anyone.
