Everyone's a Winner!

Overheard in Chicago's O'Hare airport, from one young Navy man to another, "If they let him graduate, I'm gonna kill somebody."

Hyperbole aside, what he meant was that a classmate of his had done something so wrong that he did not deserve to be awarded the same credential as him. It's unimportant here the actual offense--the point is this fellow broke the code.

This reminds us of a very serious problem in education today. With the continual eroding of standards and the weepy desire not to harm a child's self esteem comes a very real consequence. By rewarding those undeserving, we send a powerful message to those who are deserving, "Don't be a chump."

Thus we have the absurdity of "Co-valedictorians;" "distinguished honors" being awarded not to the minority but the majority of students at some colleges; and the general millieu of "everyone's a winner."

There are no winners, for those slackers who wouldn't have made the grade in a more fair system simply shrug off "beating the system" yet again. Meanwhile our star pupils learn there's no honor in legitimate achievement.

Years down the line, these two groups will have evolved. The slackers will now wear the mantle of "winner" with pride, and will use words like "earned" and "deserving" while their accomplishments are anything but. These folks will rebel when faced with real competition, sometimes even looking to imaginary reasons for not making the grade, such as racism, sexism or prejudice.

Meanwhile our former achievers will have learned not to try as hard, such such effort won't be recognized any more than the bare minimum. And after years of such schooling, these "winners" will have actually been trained to be slackers.

Everyone's a loser.