Read this story from the Southwest Wake (NC county) News. Kangaroo Express, a subsidiary of The Pantry (convenience stores located in the Southeastern U.S.), is offering consumers a special deal where for $6.99 you receive a plastic "Roo Cup" that permits you to purchase unlimited refills at any Kanagroo store for 25¢ between May 26th and Labor Day 2012. (The refills were free last summer.)
Now, as an incentive to encourage attendance and appropriate behavior in school, Kangaroo Express offered every student at Apex (NC) High School a free Roo Cup for this summer. That's right, these students just had to make it on time to all their classes and not act out for a whole year, and as a reward the students who met this standard would be rewarded with a free cup and unlimited 25¢ refills.
Oh wait, it wasn't for a whole year that they had to attend all their classes on time and not act out; that might be tough for many kids to achieve. It was probably for a whole semester that students had to act responsibly. Just one semester is a bit weaker for sure, but it still creates a good incentive to teach students the importance responsibility, which will help them socially and professionally over the long run. And this way only about 25% of the students would likely not qualify for the cup rather than the 50% that probably wouldn't qualify if perfect attendance and good behavior were required for a whole year.
Well actually, here's the deal:
For two weeks the students fought off colds, tugged themselves out of bed, and brushed off distractions in order to meet the requirements needed to get the cup – perfect attendance, no tardies and good conduct.
Two freakin' weeks!?!? Are you kidding me? We have such low standards for students in public schools that they need an incentive to not be late, absent, or screw around for just two weeks?
Here's the killer:
About 74 percent of the school’s 2,300 students qualified for the incentive.
What?!?! Only 74% of the students were able to show up for all their classes on time and not act up for just two short measly weeks? No wonder our government schools are failing; we have such low expectations of students who attend them.
“I think it’s really awesome,” said Junior Adrika Rahim, 17, about the cups.
She said the toughest requirement was not being late to class, especially after lunch. Rahim said she solved the problem by leaving five minutes early.
Oh, I see, Miss Rahim's education is not a priority, at least enough to get her to class on time. But the prospect of 25¢ sodas over the summer convinces her to make a minor change in her behavior - leaving five minutes earlier - and that's enough to get her to class on time. What a pity!
Karen Ortiz,16, said she’s usually always running late and the incentive program helped to motivate her.
“I think it was hard,” Ortiz said. “You get sidetracked by your friends. I would just say ‘Hey, I need to leave. Remember Roo Cup.’ ”
Hard?!?!? Getting to class on time is a serious challenge for today's high school students? No, getting to class on time may be an inconvenince to their perceived busy social lives, but it's not hard. Here, do you want to read a story about two students who experience hard every day of their academic careers and more? Ortiz's remarks are symptomatic of students who have been coddled for years in our government school systems. How about, "Hey, I need to leave. It's expected of me to be in class on time and I can meet at least that low level of responsibility."
Senior Jon Perkins, 17, said last summer he missed out on the Roo Cups and was determined to get one this year.
“I was dealing with a bad cold this entire week and I didn’t want to get up,” Perkins said. “But, to get a (cheap) drink all summer, it was worth it.”
Yeah, I guess when the expectations of your behavior are so low, and from the quotes above your classmates must largely be undisciplined slackers who have been overindulged their whole lives, there's little reason for you to ever think that education is important enough to act responsibly and value what many in this world will never ever have the privilege of experiencing. Is that what's wrong?
How much, and what exactly, are we teaching our kids in schools today?
UPDATE: Here is the "Vision Statement" for Apex High School."
At Apex High School graduates will master curriculum knowledge. Our students will embody a core of positive character traits. Meaningful relationships between adults and students will provide the support necessary for students to develop their potential and pursue challenging goals. Our students will combine knowledge and 21st century skills in becoming lifelong productive citizens.
As Woody Allen once said, "Eighty percent of success is just showing up on time." Hmmm!?! How about working on that timeliness thing, or self-discipline and responsibility.