F*ck Grades
For the first six years of my school education, I lived grade-free. This is now my 3rd year involving grades in my life, which led me to conclude that grades suck. Bad.
I’m what you’d call “The Straight-A Student”; I’m the one everyone rushes to compare grades with as if scoring higher than me is some sort of accomplishment. Grades to me aren’t an issue, nor an obstacle to get past, they’re just numbers and letters that are making my friends miserable.
Before Grades
Up until 6th grade, I went to an anthroposophical school. I’ll explain for those who think I just made that word up.
Anthroposophy is a philosophical approach invented by Rudolf Steiner in the 20th century. This approach emphasizes the connection to the spiritual world. When applied to education, the outcome is pretty much what you’d expect a hippie school to be like, but better.
Anthroposophical schools, known as Waldorf or Steiner schools, focus on the individual rather than the group. This can benefit some, but to others, it might not. Students are educated through many uncommon practices these days, such as daily singing and drawing, wood carving, sewing, knitting, music, and more.
In my personal experience, children at such schools happen to be more innocent and kind. Bullying is unheard of, and classmates ignore flaws. My friends, there were all very talented, and each had their own artistic flair in the art of their choosing.
I’ve grown immensely there, without any tests or grades. I learned to appreciate learning, such a utopian idea that is so rarely addressed.
After Grades
Going into 7th grade, I decided to move schools. The decision was based on my desire to seek higher education and explore my interests in the scientific realms(in hindsight, that shouldn't have been a deciding factor).
The adjustment wasn’t smooth and easy. I wanted to move classes after the first day. It was different, very different.
I found that unlike students in my last school that acted like they were younger than they were, students in this new school were constantly bothered by behaving like people older than themselves. This was strange to adapt to, but after a while, I was happy with the class I chose, and I wouldn’t change it one bit even if I could.
Taking a look at the educational side of things, things were more of the same. Although some teachers were very down to earth, almost like friends of ours, others were very number focused, like many of the students.
This approach meant that some teachers got us thinking about the final exam from day one. Why? I ask. We can do so much better than that. All this does is negatively affect the students and their highly influential parents. It makes everyone focus on this one thing: Grades.
Okay, I get it. In the end, grades matter. Their students’ performance on tests measures teachers. Students are measured by their own success when anyone in this closed system wants to break free and advance in life; the numbers embedded on that sheet of paper matter.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. My friends shouldn’t torture themselves so they can proudly display a three-digit number on a paper full of words they will shortly forget. Surely there must be a better solution.
In this school, each student has a rough estimate of how “good” another student is. These estimates lead them to conclude how successful they may be in the life that follows the separation from this institution. Three years ago, this wasn’t the case. I saw my classmates as equal to me and to each other. We were all as likely to succeed, and we wouldn't even bother to think about it.
The focus on grades makes us focus on things so far away. It tears away our youth.
The future mustn’t take away our childhood, as we only live it once.
Grades aren’t the one and only thing responsible for this distorted way of thinking that accompanies most of today’s teens, but they are what symbolizes it. That chase after a number, a letter. As if it changes everything there is. As if our lives depend on it.
