Report Cards and Child Abuse (yes, it’s a thing)

We need to talk about this study that was released at the end of 2018. The study determined that when report cards are released on Fridays, incidents of child abuse increase on Saturday.

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL?

Regardless of the day report cards are released, what kind of culture have we created where [insert all the expletives here] GRADES lead to beating children??

WE ARE MONSTERS.

This study had some limitations, but it still highlights an ugly reality. I feel like this type of study speaks for itself and doesn’t need a lot of interpretation, so I’ll just leave us with a fairly obvious takeaway that demands action:

Forget just changing the day that report cards are released, we (educators, parents, employers, administrators, everyone) must change this societal mindset that grades and school performance are the end-all, be-all. STAT.

In his book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, John Taylor Gatto describes an incident in which he asserts that grades are useless beyond the institutional schooling years and suggests that teachers at the school where he is speaking post their grades on their classroom doors. As a listener, I expected this to be met with awkward laughter. Instead, it was met by a police intervention at the assembly where he was asked to leave. Either reaction is clearly not appropriate. We must stop putting grades on such a pedestal.

So. How can you battle this mindset from where you sit? What will be your role?

If you’re a teacher, post your grades from high school. And request that parents in other professions post theirs.

If you’re a parent, hug your children and remind them to be kind and do their best and that’s all you want from their school day.

If you’re a citizen, write letters to your editor, school administrators, and vote.

If you’re an administrator, meet with teachers and parents, and fight for policy change in your school district. Or just change it.

If you’re an employer or college admissions counselor, go to school board meetings, go to teacher meetings, and tell students that K-12 grades do not predict productivity as an employee, performance as a college student, or determine worth as a human being.