Red Cards Falter Out Of The Gate
- waverlyhispot
- Dec 1, 2014
- 2 min read
Serena Mueller
Feature Editor
When a student fails one class or grades fall below 70 percent in two or more classes, a red card is distributed.
The idea and purpose of red cards is incredibly reasonable, and a student that disagrees with that is probably a student that can’t balance activities and academics.
Upon receiving a red card, students are asked to communicate with the appropriate teachers in terms of getting their work done and earning the required grade. After getting their grades above the mark, the particular teacher is expected to sign off and the student is given permission to participate in their clubs or sports.
This all makes perfect sense. A student must fix what’s wrong before they’re allowed in their extracurriculars.
In past years, red cards were given to teachers and handed out during A&P. Now, activities’ director Brad McMillan pulls kids from their morning classes and talks to them about what they need to do to improve their grade and how to prevent future red cards.
“I call them out of their classes and let them know what they need to do and I go over the possible consequences down the road,” McMillan said. “I do it for a chance to see some of them and effectively communicate what is going on.”
That’s where it stops making sense.
Students do, more than likely, get more out of the conversation when it occurs with an administrator and is face-to-face.
However, it’s debatable how beneficial it is when the delivery occurs during class.
The tardy policy is semi-strict here at Waverly, due to the fact that students arriving late to class “creates distraction”. Taking kids out of class to tell them that they’re failing or their grades are below the acceptable mark is also a distraction. To me, more of a distraction than a student arriving late to class.
For some students, low grades are something they are ashamed of. Of course it’s not a thing any student is probably proud of, but some do care more than others.
It’s clear as day to other students in the classes why a particular student is taken out of class, and provides some with an awful sense of embarrassment.
One more reason to keep up with school work, but one more thing to distract a student when they attempt to go back to class and focus.
Speech class, taking a quiz, and McMillan pulls two kids. Imagine the two students, returning to class, expected to avert their minds back to the assessment at hand.
The reasoning for red cards and wanting to get a face-to-face conversation with the students that are behind in a class or two is understandable.
It’s not understood why it’s okay for an administrator to interrupt our classes and cause students frustration and, for some, embarrassment.
I’m fond of the idea of administrators talking to students and really addressing what is wrong; I’m not fond of interrupted classes and distracted classmates.
