by Simonne Liberty

Created on: August 20, 2009

No. This is a discriminating tactic. It is not fair to children who have learning disabilities, or those who are slow, or can not take tests. School officials are so obsessed with test scores, and academic achievements, that they fail to measure a child's intelligence by the things they can accomplish.

I never liked the bumper stickers that read, "My child is on the honor roll." That is the same as paying kids for being blessed with academic skills. It is an indirect way of telling those children who can not measure up to the expectations of school officials, that they are not as good as those who get paid. If we are going to reward kids who are academically gifted, we need to also reward the kids who struggle to do their best.

All these special rewards only put pressure on children who know they can never measure up, because they walk to a different drummer. Half of all high school students drop out of school before they graduate. We are so busy praising those who can learn in the traditional ways, that we neglect and ignore the children who learn in different ways. Our brains don't all work exactly the same way, but we expect all children to learn exactly the same way.

We all have each our own talents and abilities. If that talent or gift does not fit into out traditional academic mold, we are considered, lazy or stupid. Highly academically talented people, may have no problem memorizing information to ace exams, yet it has been recorded that people with learning disabilities, known as LD, test higher on IQ tests than the average A student. Why not pay those with high IQ's , like we do those who can memorize information?

Many children who are mentally challenged, would never be able to pass an academic exam. But many of them have "Mastery skills." They may only be able to do one thing, but they do it well. We are programmed to say that we want to educate children so they will be "well rounded." The words "well rounded," are politically correct words. They sound good, but don't mean anything. Well rounded means knowing many things. Well everyone knows many things. Life would be pretty dull if those without degrees were so narrow minded that they never learned any thing in life.

We start learning from the day we are born, until the day we die. Being good test takers does not make one smarter than anyone else. They should not be treated as being better than anyone else. This only gives them a superior complex.

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