Every student at any point during his or her schooling years must have noticed how well received and appraised good grades are for a wide number of reasons. A few other peers, which are often high achieving students, are usually the main sources of inspiration for other fellow students and classmates to also obtain high achieving grades in the long run. However, what are good grades really worth after all the efforts and constant hype from other students, teachers and parents? From what kind of measure can good grades be effectively analyzed as a beneficial and worthy thing to have?
The answer to both of these questions has a high degree of variability. In terms of educational achievement, good grades reflect the overall mastering of the given studied subject as well as its analysis in order to prove that the student has effectively managed to learn the subject’s content. On a general level, a student who has achieved very good grades is often seen as a bright individual who will accomplish many great things throughout his or her life, however; this is not always the case and this is precisely where the issue of questioning the worthiness of grades comes into play.
Educated individuals who are open minded, eloquent, with a vision in their lives and who act and think appropriately and logically have developed those characteristics based upon their educational achievement, as well as the intellectual analysis of information and critical thinking, skills that can be acquired by receiving a high quality education and obtaining good grades. Apart from this, good grades can act as a means to an end regarding the level of maturity, respect, cordiality and thought thereby creating well rounded individuals. The main worthiness of good grades in this matter is the enrichment and expansion of the mind.
Most people out there, in fact, societies as a whole do not see the main worthiness of achieving high marks in school with the purpose for simple intellectual gain. The main driven factor is money, kids from a very young age are inculcated the so-called fact that as they obtain better grades in school, they will have better opportunities for achieving high-paying jobs and enjoying a very comfortable lifestyle, translating into earning more money in the long run. This trend is fostered in children due to the social pressure of being successful and achieving one’s own dreams, however; good grades alone are not guarantors that this will occur unless other factors and aspects of every individual are changed, completely diversifying the overall accepted ideas towards the worthiness of obtaining good grades in school.
The precise factors that need to be changed are the opportunity costs that are associated in obtaining very good grades throughout school. Many high-achieving students often find themselves frustrated with themselves for not achieving the grades they hoped, some other students often find themselves restless, stressed, fatigued and without having the freedom to do other productive things besides studying and obtaining good grades.
These opportunity costs for obtaining good grades can leave a major gap between what is important in real life and what is actually important in school. Skills such as public relations, friendships, connections, real life problem-solving techniques are not necessarily linked with achieving good grades, leaving a major portion of the potential success without being filled appropriately in the long run.
Moving now to the debate of whether or not kids should receive money from their parents for good grades, it is important to note that the overall effect in the short term can be quite beneficial since kids will allocate their time and effort towards achieving good grades and getting paid by their parents to do so. However, this can potentially be counterproductive in the long run since children will grow with this notion that grades are extremely important to have to the point where they are paid for obtaining them, this in turn translates to focusing too much attention and effort in achieving high marks in school and leaving a high potential of opportunities available without fulfilling them to the highest potential.
In conclusion, it is important to consider that obtaining good grades is definitely a very good thing to have but it is not something that all individuals should only focus on, especially when there are too many other individuals and students who also have very good grades. Competing against the masses is a very challenging task to do when the individual does not have the necessary resources, skills or other types of worthy factors, apart from having good grades, in order to succeed in life.
For this reason, the worthiness of good grades is entirely subjective; meaning that good grades are valued differently according to the needs, preferences, plans and long term goals of each kind of individual. In a general sense, good grades are worthy but they also encompass and possess a limitation where the individual or child can succeed throughout his or her life. It is highly recommended, especially for children, to learn how to live for the future and not always necessarily for the present.