Redheaded Jill

One thing I rant about a lot is forced participation. I hate being forced to do things. I hated it as a kid and I hate it as an adult. One thing that happened to me a lot as a kid was I was punished for not being bad at things. I would be chosen to participate or complete a task on behalf of others because I wasn’t bad at it.

One example of this is from school. Because I had decent grades I was often paired with kids who didn’t because I could “help” them. I was responsible, so I had to help the kids who weren’t. It was the “kind” thing to do, but was it really kind? This is something I witness regularly as a substitute teacher.

Another way I was punished for not being bad at something was Bible camp. Every year at camp they had sports time. There was no way of escaping sports time. (Though to be fair I was afraid of breaking the rules so I never tried to escape.) On the last day of camp they held an “All Star” game where the best girl softball players would play against the women counselors, and the best boy softball players played against the men counselors. I am not an athlete. I am mediocre at best. But I was good enough that I had to play in the all-star game every summer. Instead of relaxing or reading or hanging out with my friends I had to sweat on top of the giant hill in Arkansas and play softball with the whole camp watching.

When I worked at the bank I was so productive! Someone else took credit for my efficiency. When I worked fast food in high school and was an absolute rockstar, I was given more responsibility while my manager was given a raise.

As I sit here in a junior high classroom and watch them work on group projects I can’t help but feel bad for the kids. A handful are working hard while the majority mess around and flirt and gossip and waste time, but they’re all going to get the same grades because it’s a group assignment. We need to stop punishing people for doing well, and stop rewarding people for taking advantage of their peers.