|  Some
educators have said we should eliminate report cards and academic
marks. Do you think this is a good idea?
No, I believe academic marks are valuable
for students in the third grade or higher. They reinforce and reward
the child who has achieved in school and as a nudge to the youngster
who hasnít. It is important, though, that grades be used properly.
They have the power to create or to destroy motivation.Ý
Through the elementary years, Iíve always
felt that a childís grades should be based on what he does with
what he has. In other words, I think we should grade according to
ability. A slow child should be able to succeed in school just as
certainly as a gifted youngster. If he struggles and sweats to achieve,
he should somehow be rewarded ó even if his work falls short of
an absolute standard. By the same token, gifted children should
not be given Aís just because they are smart enough to excel without
working.
Again, the primary purpose in grading
in the elementary school years should be to reward academic effort.
However, as the student goes into high
school, the purpose of grading shifts. Those who take college preparatory
courses must be graded on an absolute standard. An ěAî in chemistry
or calculus is accepted by college admission boards as a symbol
of excellence, and secondary teachers must preserve that meaning.
Students with lesser academic skill need not take those difficult
courses.Ý
To repeat, marks for children can be
the teacherís most important motivational tool, provided they are
used correctly. Therefore, the recommendation that schools eliminate
grading is a move away from discipline in the classroom.Ý
+ + +
Since you disapprove of public
school sex-education programs as currently designed, who do you
think should tell children the facts of life and when should that
instruction begin?
For those parents who are able to handle
the instructional process correctly, the responsibility for sex
education should be retained in the home. There is a growing trend
for all aspects of education to be taken from their hands (or the
role is deliberately forfeited by them). This is unwise. Particularly
in the matter of sex education, the best approach is one that begins
casually and naturally in early childhood and extends through the
years, according to a policy of openness, frankness and honesty.
Only parents can provide this lifetime training ó being there when
the questions arise and the desire for information is evidenced.Ý
Unfortunately, moms and dads often fail
to do the job. Some are too sexually inhibited to present the subject
with poise, or they may lack the necessary technical knowledge of
the human body. Another common mistake is to wait until puberty
is knocking at the door and then try to initiate a desperate, tension-filled
conversation that embarrasses the kid and exhausts the parents.
If this is the way sex education is going
to be handled, there has to be another alternative to consider.
Dr.
James Dobson is founder and chairman of the board of the nonprofit
organization Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs; or www.family.org.
Questions and answers are excerpted from The
Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide and Bringing Up
Boys, both published by Tyndale House.
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