Opinions about the college admissions scandal have certainly been varied. It is something that touches so many of us — college graduates, high school students, parents, people of the community who see inequity.
In some ways, the story is nothing new. People of means have the ability to influence their own destiny and that of their children. It is the depth of the story that had so many talking about it. The eye-popping amounts of money certainly had something to do with it as well, along with the celebrity angle.
Perhaps too it was the solidification of what so many of us have suspected, or about which others had whispered. It is human nature to gain an advantage through money or other influence. Books have been written about gaming certain systems and our history is riddled with get-rich schemes and questionable products that promise a variety of benefits.
This scandal also speaks to our society’s increasingly competitive nature and diminishing value system. That some would purposefully cheat and break the law to gain an advantage in college admissions is shameful, that it is a consideration for some is equally, well, depressing.
Most parents want the very best for their child, and are usually willing to do anything to help — but that should involve sacrifice and hard work. Cheating should not be part of the equation.
Kevin Skelly, superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District, said this is proving to be a constant issue — particularly for parents weighing how much they want to help their child. Some suggest there is nothing they wouldn’t do for their kid, he said, and with the college admissions scandal, he added, “they really really meant it.” It’s time, he said, to take some heat off of the college admissions process on all ends.
“This is another chance for real soul-searching,” he said.
This is not reserved for just the upper echelon. More now see admission to an elite college as a status symbol. We are losing the premise of education. It is not a means to an end, but a lifelong pursuit to better ourselves and each other — to learn new things and create a better grasp of the ever-changing world.
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We can do better. First, don’t cheat. Second, lay off the competition. A little bit is good, but too much can have a deleterious effect. Third, emphasize that learning is part of a longer process in which we are to seek understanding — not get ahead. Fourth, continue focusing on emotional well-being and intelligence. Educators have fully made this an ongoing goal in different ways after evidence built that bullying, social media interaction, screen time and competition for college admissions were starting to break children down. More should be made of this, and done about it. And it shouldn’t just be a talking point. It needs to be real. The expertise of teachers, counselors and others needs to be tapped.
San Mateo County Superintendent Nancy Magee knows this issue intimately and said the question is not whether we should address the issue, but how.
“We need to broaden the definition of success and celebrate all the different ways a student can be successful,” she said.
As far as an action item, Magee said she challenges all the parent groups that regularly meet as a community to discuss taking a different approach to college admissions and their involvement. She recommended the conversation happen as early as fifth-grade. Right now, there is a tremendous focus on the top 20 universities and various ways to get students in, she said, while emphasizing that there are hundreds and hundreds of schools out there. To recalibrate, Magee said parents must be the focus, because they might not be writing checks to get their kids in, but are sending various messages about the importance of going for the top tier.
“How do we do this? We have to get to the parents,” she said. “The world is large. There are so many opportunities and great programs that are not on that list of top 20.”
This is a conversation worth having over and over again. While paying for private college counselors to take students through the application process is becoming more commonplace, it is creating stressed out kids who are suddenly insecure and fearful once they arrive on campus because they are accustomed to having things done for them, Magee said.
That’s dangerous for several reasons but, ultimately, it’s about nurturing children who recognize there doesn’t have to be just one goal. Education is about the learning, the creating and the becoming — in whatever way that can make for a highly purposeful life. That should be the marker for success. And we can only get there together.
Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.
As a contrast to the hair-splitting comments, I would like to add my own experience from a Scandinavian country where parental involvement in academia is absolutely unheard of, and incompatible with the more progressive culture. Final written exams in the more important subjects are name coded and graded in secrecy by teams that don’t know the student, while the teacher has no say in the final grades from a grade structure with a top level so rarely used that most students can only dream about it, while As here are rather common. That’s the system even for graduation from grammar school, where grades determine if you can go directly to middle school, or in different directions, some remedial. The secretly graded high school results determine acceptance to the various universities, nothing else matters! And, by the way, high school is split in at least three different lines: language, commercial, and science, - the latter including three foreign languages as mandatory, plus the country’s own, in addition to a variety of math and science classes. Top results from the science line is the only way to get into engineering or medicine, again with no parental influence, moneywise or otherwise. Fair and simple. And, yes, - education is considered a social necessity for a modern society, and thus free, - and at higher levels only if your grades are good enough!
Jon, not trying to be mean spirited or anything like that, but the tonal quality of your new picture looks a bit like a part in the ensemble for the movie, Sin City.
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As a contrast to the hair-splitting comments, I would like to add my own experience from a Scandinavian country where parental involvement in academia is absolutely unheard of, and incompatible with the more progressive culture. Final written exams in the more important subjects are name coded and graded in secrecy by teams that don’t know the student, while the teacher has no say in the final grades from a grade structure with a top level so rarely used that most students can only dream about it, while As here are rather common. That’s the system even for graduation from grammar school, where grades determine if you can go directly to middle school, or in different directions, some remedial. The secretly graded high school results determine acceptance to the various universities, nothing else matters! And, by the way, high school is split in at least three different lines: language, commercial, and science, - the latter including three foreign languages as mandatory, plus the country’s own, in addition to a variety of math and science classes. Top results from the science line is the only way to get into engineering or medicine, again with no parental influence, moneywise or otherwise. Fair and simple. And, yes, - education is considered a social necessity for a modern society, and thus free, - and at higher levels only if your grades are good enough!
Jon, not trying to be mean spirited or anything like that, but the tonal quality of your new picture looks a bit like a part in the ensemble for the movie, Sin City.
from Animal Farm……..“all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Nice beard Jon ;)
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