From a very young age, I would constantly hear family members telling me about the importance of pursuing a post-secondary education and most importantly, getting good grades. By doing so, I would be ensuring myself a financially stable life in which I wouldn’t have to worry about money. This is the case of many college students, that sometimes are forced to attend college by their parents because he or she will be able to find a good job. This and many other factors have lead student to seek different levels of education to obtain a better position with higher salary. We have lost the focus of real education and related it with grades GPAs, job positions, and pay. This has caused society to live in a cave in which student are the …show more content…
Most of us grow up working hard to get good grades in high school to eventually attend the school of our dreams, and find a job with excellent pay. Few are the people who go to college with a true passion for education and hoping to use that knowledge for the benefit of others. In other words, if you don’t go to college you will “end up working at McDonald’s for the rest of your life.” That was a common statement my family would say when we talked about college and grades. Basically, we go to college to help us find a “good” job. No college degree would represent stress, financial struggle, and regret. Is that the ultimate goal of real …show more content…
Making an effort to improve grades and gpa, I do not consider to wrong as long as it is for effective learning purposes and not with the intention of hoping for a better job or higher pay. Students focus so much on having good grades to build an impressive resume that they cannot see the light outside the cave (The Good) which is education and the knowledge from generations that it’s being offered to these students. Education has been degraded because of our grading system. Every time students take a test, they determine how well they did based on the results/grade rather than what they learned.
THE GOOD/ LIGHT OUTSIDE THE CAVE It is true that having an educational background could potentially result in opportunities other people do not have, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, education and knowledge should not be related to grades, gpa, success, or wealth. Education itself is a blessing that sadly not everybody has. Real education gives us the opportunity to develop and further our thinking, making us more conscious and capable of discerning the information presented to us every day. Plato said: “The purpose of education is to give to the body and to the soul all the beauty and all the perfection of which they are
In the article, “From Degrading to De-Grading”, by Alfie Kohn he discusses the harmful effects grades have on students. Kohn argues that there are better ways to assess students’ progress other than letter or numerical grades. Grades are a great concept but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. Cheating can become a problem, students won’t take challenges, and they develop unhealthy competition between one another. There have been many studies conducted over the years that support Kohn’s argument.
In the essay “College Value Goes Deeper Than the Degree” author Eric Hoover claims a college education is important to one 's well-being so they can get a job and be productive in other parts of life. Promoters of higher education have long emphasized how beneficial college’s value and its purpose. Many believe the notion that colleges teach students are life skills to apply anywhere, they also work hard to earn a degree and learn specific marketable skills which they can use to get a good job. Though obtaining a college education and a degree is helpful in countless of ways, it is not necessary to pursue a college degree in world where a college degree is seen different now, people without turn out fine, the growing average of debt that students who attend college have to pay off and people without a degree can obtain many jobs that do not require college degrees.
Alfie Kohn discussed multiple fabulous points in his article, “Degrading to De-Grading”. The author suggests more effective ways to assess students’ progress other than numerical or letter grades. Kohn goes into detail about why our current grading system is flawed. Grades can cause students to lose interest in learning which causes them to stop taking challenges. If students are not engaged and interested than they are not retaining the information they are being taught. The grading system can also cause students to develop unhealthy competition with one another for instance, “I got a better grade than you!”. Indeed, grades are a wonderful concept, but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. In some cases, grades can have positive effects on students. For example, setting goals for various assignments, or receiving help where they are struggling. Though, there are alternatives that could make positive changes in the system.
A college education is proven to increase an individual 's earnings, however, women’s earnings are still not as much as men’s, even when they have the same degree (Patten, 2015).
Not all have to go to college to be successful, and not all hardworking jobs require a college degree. College is not necessarily a measure of intelligence. Especially in todays economy, a lot of people can not afford to pursue higher education. That does not mean they would not make really fantastic doctors or lawyers if they could afford to go to college. Not everyone has the means to receive degrees and titles, some do not even have the desire to. “We reinforce this notion by defining intelligence solely on grades in school and numbers on IQ tests” Rose explained. (Rose, 279) I believe that higher education is definitely a worthwhile endeavor. I also believe while it may be the best route for some, it is not for everyone. For example, my mother and father both did not attend college. They both make good incomes, and love their everyday jobs. My mother always wanted to be a hair stylist, so obviously college was not the best option for her. My father was always good at persuading people to do things, so he got into the sales business. My mother and father are a prime example of being successful in their field, without pursuing higher education. Attending college is not the only way that a person can live a happy and full
As the price to attend college increases throughout the years many young adults are experiencing increasing difficulty in being able to pay for such an endeavor and many more are beginning to question whether or not it’s worth the price due to the faltering of the economy. The price tag may be the most common concern about getting a college education but another important factor that many students consider when applying for college is how much time they will need to devote to school. Many prospective students think that the time spent in a college math class is a waste when they are majoring in the arts. This results in many students deciding against getting a college education in favor for finding a source of income to support themselves and due to the lack of employment opportunities available today the decision to choose an income over an education is really a matter of survival. However, this is the beginning of a slippery slope that can easily lead to a population that is severely lacking in education which can lead to a disaster in a country where the nations populace are the ones making decisions with their vote. I believe it is time to make education not only cheaper, but more accessible to more people across the country by eliminating course requirements and majors in order to allow students to seek out an education that is tailored to the subject they are seeking to pursue. Doing so will not only result in a lower cost of college by eliminating useless and
Furthermore, the author points out that grades are not improving because students and education are improving but rather because parents and students are demanding grades to be adjusted according to what they think it is needed not what it is deserved. “Students and parents are demanding -- and getting -- what they think of as their money's worth” (Staples, 216). Students are not receiving the grade they truly deserve based on their work but what the parents and the students themselves
Why do we work hard in school and attempt to get good grades? Why do we believe that you have to do an outstanding job in high school? The answer is because the majority of us want to go to college and hopefully pursue a career that we'd enjoy. So, why is it that just 65% of us obtain a college degree. The main factor is that college costs are soaring. According to reports the cost of a college degree has increased by 1,120 percent in just 30 years. Consequently, this has lead to difficulties for families to pay for the immense cost of college. Therefore, the government should invest more money to make college education free because students leave school with an unreasonable amount of debt. It also leads to a more prosperous country, and
School is slave labor. Rather than enjoying or learning from their classes, students are forced to do useless work that will often be forgotten immediately. Grades are meant to show much a student understands a class, but instead are used as a scale of how well a student can regurgitate answers onto a test. Students only work for good grades because of the threat of being punished for failure, and the promise of reward for passing. The punishments in this case are detention or trouble from teachers, and the rewards are making the honor roll or getting bragging rights. The real reward for learning should be having new knowledge, but this is not taken into consideration. Jerry Farber, a professor at U.S.D, made the strong claim that grades are useless and harmful in his essay, “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System.” I wholeheartedly agree with Farber’s objection to our current grading system.
Most students’ do assignments and prepare for tests only to get a good grade. They do not care about learning, as long as they are able to graduate. Learning does not come from being graded, it takes discipline and passion to learn. When trying to learn something new most people practice and or study rather than being graded.
It is important for any person to look forward and plan for the future. The choices any person makes today are going to affect his or her in the future. Getting a collage degree is one of the most important actions that will have an effect on any body’s future. This paper will compare and contrast the effects and benefits of getting a college degree or not having one . Job opportunities, intellectual skills, and potential success are some of the aspects discussed in this report.
Bad grades are doing more harm then good. Students just go for the grades but they might not be learning anything. School is supposed to be a place for learning, not just grades. Students might know the topic really well but on the test they could make “dumb” mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen, and a grade shouldn’t reflect that. Also, a grade doesn’t show the amount of effort was given. For example, one student gets a bad grade but they put in one hundred and ten effort while another student gets an one hundred. The kid who put more effort in most likely learned more then the other student. In addition, bad grades could lead to self-harm because of what grades to the the mind. Grades can lead to a loss in self confidence, stress and anxiety. Grades are more then then just letters and
Students often wonder what career path they will choose in the future to support their family and have a brighter future. Some students question whether attending college is worth their time, but research suggests that students who study at postsecondary institutions will benefit in the long run. If students want to have a successful future, to be able to support their family, and have a higher income, they will need some sort of higher level education. Going to college can help with unemployment rates and increase the chances of attaining a stable career. People, such as the former United States President Barack Obama, state that children are the future of the world and they will help raise the reputation of the U.S. by getting a good
Now days, many people are told that they must graduate high school with good grades, so that they can get into a good college and be successful in life. Many people follow this because it’s what they have been taught their whole life. Most won’t even ask themselves, is college worth it, or is there a better alternative out there. College can be worth the time and money that is invested, for a lot of individuals, if they use it correctly. On the other hand, college isn’t for everyone and there are many reasons that make it not very appealing for these individuals. I consider college to be worth it if you use it correctly, even if it isn’t the best financial investment. While there are many people who think college is worth the time and money invested, there are others who disagree.
Throughout the history of civilization, education has been an important tool in shaping an individual as well as the society that the individual is a part of. In the older civilizations, only the elite upper class had access to education. This kept these people at the top of the social ladder, and suppressed the common people who did not have access to the same education as the nobles. We have come a long way since then, with every child having access to a free high school degree. However, there is still some inequality in this modern education system that has similarities to the old injustices. In this day and age, a college degree is a great start for a young adult starting to enter the work force. According to a study conducted by Pew