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| Monty loved iron, but irony was lost on him. |
After hearing that the annual induction ceremony for The Cum Laude Society would take place in assembly, a few students wondered aloud why we needed such a ceremony. Weren't these inductees just the kids who naturally got good grades? Why do they get extra recognition for something that comes so easily to them?
Maybe these complainers had a good point.
Judging by the people society normally puts in the spotlight, these inductees have hardly done anything worthy of earning it. They don't say or do anything scandalous. They don't make a spectacle of themselves everywhere they go. They don't abusively berate anyone who disagrees with them. Why are we paying attention to them anyway? Instead, why can't we just put the the guy who was doing "unauthorized firefighting" in Coach Pruitt's biology lab in front of assembly for a big round of applause? He's the one who deserves some recognition, right?*
Wait, have we been confused? Is heaping praise and attention on people who humiliate themselves not the right thing to do? Is laughing at an almost comically tone-deaf and demeaning tweet not OK? Have we been giving medals to people instead of sending them to demerit hall (metaphorically)?
Who actually deserves our attention and admiration? Who merits it? What about people who work diligently and honorably for success and inspire us to follow their lead. What about a student who routinely visits his teacher for help during theme week. What about a boy who refuses to succumb to confusion about conic sections. What about a kid who works his tail off to earn good grades. What about students who earn a spot in an international academic honor society like Cum Laude. What about those people. How about them?
Plus, "demerit" isn't even a verb.
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| The Cum Laude Inductees |
* Don't worry. The "unauthorized firefighting" incident occurred way back in the 90's.