Just a Piece of Paper

I’m sure you’ve heard people say, “It is just a piece of paper.”

I think about the pieces of paper in my life that have meant a lot to me:  college diploma, driver’s license, titles, deeds, books, and one certificate that documents that I crossed the Arctic Circle.  Whereas it is true that paper will just lie there and let you put anything on it, the significance of what is written on that paper has real value.  If I burn my birth certificate, it doesn’t mean that I was never born.  Likewise, the value of my diploma is the documentation of an achievement of a goal. 

Recently the mother of a child with Autism posted about her child’s disappointment at a school award’s assembly.  The child had not received an award and had wept.  The parents were understandably heartbroken for their child and had tried to console her by reminding her (as many of us have often done), that her real achievements were more than a piece of paper.

Why are we so concerned with these pieces of paper?  It has to do with recognition, something we all crave.  We know that we’ve worked hard, but we still want others to recognize it.  This is totally natural.  It is part of the human condition to desire recognition, validation, praise, or just plain feedback.  So it should be expected that a child with only a small number of years on this Earth should be very confused.  The school makes a huge display of pride in the relatively small number of award recipients.  Then the parents tell their children that it’s okay and no big deal that they didn’t get an award.  It’s pretty confusing, right?

I’ve taught in schools for 32 years and I have never felt entirely comfortable with the Almighty Awards Assembly, especially at the elementary and middle school levels.  I’ve seen too many heart-broken children to believe that their sacrifice in self-esteem was worth the elevation of another child.  But I also know from my experience that the problem is complicated.

If schools are about academics, then shouldn’t we be recognizing those who achieve at the highest level?  If we bring up every child onto the stage for an award, then how is the award special?  If we spotlight our brightest students, won’t this make the other students want to work harder?  These are the most common arguments given for awards assemblies.

Let’s do some debunking.

Are our schools about everyone scrambling to the top?  Or, are they about everyone being the best that they can be as individuals?  I’ll bet that if you ask educators, they will tell you that they only want their students to be the best that they can be.  Second, do we really think a child devalues their award just because everyone else got one?  If you’ve spent any time with children then you’ll know that they only notice when they don’t get something.  (Think:  If a child gets a sucker, do they care that the rest of the class got one?) Last, have awards assemblies been shown to improve overall student achievement?  I have not researched this but I can tell you from my experience that the answer is… NO.

So if schools wish to promote individual achievement, then how do school-wide awards assemblies fit into that plan?  If they don’t, then what can we do?  Come up with another way!

 

After all, it’s just a piece of paper. 

 

What a piece of paper can mean.