I completed my entire high school career without ever having obtaining an A for anything and I know why: I didn’t give a damn. I was more interested in lying on and ingesting grass as well as recreational activities such as watching Yizo Yizo. Not once do I remember exerting myself and my report card stood testament of that fact. When I reached my final year of high school and had to work twice as hard to get half the marks, the lesson was clear; you have to work for every stitch of credit given to you. Apparently, the rules have changed!
I came across the report card of a matric student recently and was quite horrified at what I saw; all F’s and one A. The A that stood cold and lonely in the middle of the report card was for Life Orientation. Now, first and foremost that cannot be a real subject and secondly; if everyone is passing a subject with flying colours…surely it needs to be looked at. I am all for young people working hard and reaping the benefits; however this does mean that I all but despise those who reap the benefits without doing the work. Extremes such as everyone passing a certain subject with flying colours or even everyone failing a certain subject dismally should be interpreted as a symptom of a faulty system. Granted I did not have access to the report cards of the entire matric class, however seeing an A amongst an F aggregate is much like seeing a white spot on a brain scan; it means something isn’t right.
I like to think of myself as a pessimistic woman whose favourite hat is optimism; I wear it often and look great in it. I will however say this; there is a time and place for “prizes for participation” and that time and place is; Grade 1 at the swimming gala. Giving away A’s does not instil any type of work ethic in young people. I know what it feels like to fail and I would not have it any other way. Working for every single mark on your report card matters. Giving out A’s for showing up is not fair to those who show up and work their fingers to the bone. Am I saying the young student whose report card I saw should have gotten all F’s? Absolutely, that is exactly what I am saying. At least then the report card would have been an honest reflection of their participation.
We are the country who celebrated having scored the opening goal at the world cup even after we were cut out of the competition like a diseased tumour. We writhe under a government who pays enormous salaries to fraudulent people who do the bare minimum. Are we all willing to pretend that we do not know that there are young people whose primary goal in life is to get paid to do nothing? Prostitution has taken on the guise of ambition as young women boastfully call themselves gold diggers because apparently having sex (something we can all do) with wobbly old men (something that most choose not to do) is more glamorous than using ones brain. Mediocrity cannot be celebrated. It breeds fraud, short cuts amoral behaviour and signifies that a country is turning into Lazyland – where the cats are fat and are all in parliament.
I like freebees as much as the next person (the lady with the sausages at Pick n Pay can attest to that), however I believe that when it comes to the big things…things like your job and your brain…perhaps brutal honesty is the only kind of feedback that is necessary. Perhaps it’s time we expected more of ourselves.
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