Isn’t it funny that high school students sometimes value their own self worth and intellect based upon a 4.0 scale? It’s actually no laughing matter– I personally know students who have developed serious mental problems from the rat race to become valedictorian with the highest grade point average (GPA). This system of measuring an “educated student” is very telling regarding the values of the United States’ education ideology: this system measures a person as a number, not as an intellectual being.

The table to the right shows how BHS measures class rank. It seems simple enough until I realized that there are some serious problems with the way this ranking system measures students’ capabilities.

First of all, there’s a huge difference between an A- and an A+. There’s 10 points separating those grades, yet they’re both given the same value. Students know how to do the bare minimum in a class in order to just make the tipping point of falling into an A-, B-, or C- category to ensure that they secure the value of the class based upon its level. If this column teaches you anything, at least you now know how to cheat the system and still maintain a healthy GPA. And teachers, now you know why students wholeheartedly grade grub any way they can in order to get that 89.5 up to a 90.

Also, If you’re a vigorous academic student and plan to take five AP classes in your six-course schedule, but decide you might want to add an art class for honors credit, it will immediately dock your GPA. This happens because its value will lower your overall average, even if you do earn an A+++.  That’s right; you will practically be penalized for being creative. However, if you filled that empty class with a study hall, which does not count towards the calculation of a GPA, there would be no lower number to bring down a GPA average. There you have it. Another way education reinforces the idea that doing nothing is better than doing something to merely maintain a number.

Competition should not be the impetus behind your academic career. Period. Take six AP classes because you’re really excited about what you’re learning and you’re ready for an arduous course to take you further into your education. Do not take six AP classes because it will boost your GPA. Take six CP2 classes because its the best way for you to learn and you have more time to actually comprehend the material. Do not take six CP2 classes because you’re lazy and you don’t feel like putting your full potential into your education.

Can we stop measuring the intelligence of human beings by a certain number they earn in a class but rather through what they’ve learned? Learned, not memorized, there’s a difference.

In my free time, when I’m not slamming my head against the wall because of all the pointless hoops I have to jump through to maintain my own GPA, I think about different ways we could change the way our education system works to actually measure intellect accurately. For starters, I think the GPA system should be eradicated. The purpose behind a class rank is to see where you fall among the other students in your class. Why do we feel the need to compete against other people to prove that we’re intellectual? Instead of focusing on how we learn to acquire the perfect GPA that will get us into the perfect college, how about we focus on what we learn to maintain our intelligence throughout our lives. A person should never be measured by his or her numerical worth, but rather by more important things, like if they actually take Fox News seriously.