A parent of a college-aged kid recently told me her son was making nearly straight A’s in his freshman year and that she was surprised college-level work seemed no tougher for him than high school work. For her, the jump to college work had been tough.
I thought of this situation when I read this WCHL story about UNC taking on the problem of grade inflation. I’m glad to see it. Grade inflation stymies the maturation process. We do young men and women no favors by failing to challenge them academically and continually feed their egos. I’m concerned that we’re not teaching them to deal with adversity and — dare I say it, failure. Life is filled with ups and downs and unless we prepare them for the tough times and self doubt that will, at times, come their way, we haven’t done our job.
