Within the education system there appears to be a policy that restricts a teacher’s ability to give their students a zero. Strange, is this how the real world works? After all, it makes sense that the world functions without consequences for poor performance, or, maybe not.
Are we becoming a society that rewards indolence or mediocrity? The debate over the No Zero policy highlights a problem in society; should people who avoid their responsibility to do a job be rewarded? When students receive marks for unfinished work they get a message — that they’re entitled to something for doing nothing. One important, yet too often ignored, purpose of the education system is to teach students work ethic. It’s counterproductive if there are no repercussions for having missed a deadline, or finishing an assignment, especially if one of the goals of the education system is to ensure students develop work ethic. People need to learn that hard work brings success, rather than success being something to which they’re inherently entitled to. Besides, how does a teacher grade a document that hasn’t been submitted? I’m not sure that should even be an option.
Students shouldn’t be insulated from the pressures to perform that permeates most of society. The No Zero policy doesn’t allow for the prospect of failure, something that, without a doubt, will always lay as a possible outcome for the rest of their lives. Failure is an unfortunate, but real, fact; everyone will have setbacks at some point. The education system should teach students the skills to succeed, yes, but also the skills in dealing with the failures and setbacks that are present in everyday life. School should be an opportunity to learn about the way the real world works before students enter it. I believe that this policy is detrimental to a student’s ability to succeed and prosper after they’ve graduated.
Further, how is this policy fair to students that have put time and effort into their school work? What incentive is there to work harder when everyone gets the “winning ribbon” at the end of the race, regardless of effort? When the focus is placed on easing the burden of those who’ve failed, those who’ve succeeded are forgotten. We must remember that it’s fair for success to be achieved by those that are willing to strive for it, as opposed to achieving success regardless of the work done. This policy is not in sync with the real world, and I believe the education system should be there to prepare students for exactly that, the real world.
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