PRO: Valedictorians
Valedictorian comes from the Latin root vale dicere, which means “to say farewell.” It is fitting, then, for the one named as the valedictorian to give the final speech at his or her graduation ceremony. Recently, however, the practice has come under fire, with critics claiming that the award may ignite unnecessary competition in an already stressful high school environment.
While the high levels of pressure that come with competing might be detrimental to the health of some students, the concept of a valedictorian is not enough to form these complications. Instead, these issues are a result of individual students striving to achieve success above their level.
Rather than bringing detrimental levels of pressure, competition allows for students to reach greater heights. Competition teaches students that they need to work for their goals, and those that don’t work hard enough do not achieve what they want. It allows students to reach for their limits and can also promote healthy relationships between people who work together to achieve their goals. Without the desire to succeed, students become much less motivated and tend to achieve less.
Additionally, students who do not experience defeat may actually suffer negative effects as well. According to journalists and psychology authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, children who always win eventually feel entitled to victory, and may be so afraid of losing as to not work hard and even risk defeat. In order for students to develop sufficiently for the future, they need to learn that losing is part of the game.
Competition aside, there is no such thing as a student who never stood a chance at being valedictorian. Everyone enters high school with a potential of a 4.0 GPA, and those who are unable to maintain it don’t deserve to be called the highest in the class, plain and simple. Academic success boils down to studying efficiently and being able to understand information. Contrary to popular belief, it is not enough to just memorize facts and formulas. Students unable to keep up with their peers aren’t cut out for valedictorian status.
Besides, the entire point of the valedictorian system is that not everyone is going to earn the award. Being the best in the class isn’t and shouldn’t be the norm; it should be a special honor reserved for a select few. Those students who aren’t able to make it at the highest level of competition are entirely normal; according to the system, the ones who are recognized as valedictorians are the exceptions. There isn’t meant to be pressure upon to entire school to become a valedictorian, but instead the title is an award meant to honor those who are the best of the best.
Valedictorians are a traditional and valuable component of high school, as the rank encourages students to work harder and allows colleges another angle at which to evaluate competent students. To do away with the system risks creating an overall decline in education.
CON: Valedictorians
As the competition for getting accepted into college skyrockets, earning the prestigious title of valedictorian is the cause of much stress. The title of valedictorian should be eliminated, as it turns students’ education into competition, and forces serious candidates to lose sight of the importance of their emotional, mental or physical health.
The title of valedictorian emphasizes the idea of being perfect, which is ultimately harmful. According to Jason Moser, a professor of psychology at Michigan State University, perfectionism, while not classified as a disease, has been connected to poor physical health and to health problems such as eating disorders, anxiety, and depression.
Moser also found that although valedictorians do exceptionally well within eminently structured systems, they “do not break molds or succeed as entrepreneurs or in the creative arts.”
At Lexington High School in Massachusetts, the class rank and the valedictorian award was removed decades ago. LHS principal stated that some school districts needed the enticement of a valedictorian award to get students to work hard. However, she found that it led to a more urgent necessity to abate “the pressure of perfection.”
The ranking system also inherently promotes a culture of unnecessary competition in an environment that is already duly competitive and overly focused on test scores and grades. Students focused solely on the title do whatever it takes to preserve a high GPA.
Rewarding students with the title of valedictorian might entice them to enroll in easy classes or mediocre levels of required courses to ensure themselves outstanding GPAs. In many cases, they avoid a non-weighted course, even if it interests them, because it won’t boost their rank.
Recognizing students just based on numbers is absolutely absurd. Doing so twists their education into a competition where the odds of winning are slim and leads them to a point where “competition and rivalry become more important than the pursuit.”
According to Jan Brogan, a correspondent for the Boston Globe and parent of a valedictorian, by the time her daughter was 14, she was working herself into what would become “annual bouts of exhaustion that mimicked mono.” Two months after she made her speech, she was hospitalized for an eating disorder.
Depending on the person, the title of valedictorian can bring either satisfying or atrocious thoughts. However, in any situation, when the bad outweighs the good, the obstruction should be removed and stopped at all costs.
In this case, when the valedictorian title is causing high school students all over the world to feel extreme stress and forces them to feel incredible amounts of pressure, this “honor” should be completely removed from all schools.