There goes that show-off Tyler, doing more than he has to and spoiling things for everyone else…
Some day in the less-distant-than-we-might-think future, when the United States is a gray, socialist country populated by millions of Winston Smiths and Julias, historians and sociologists, if there are any left, may well look back on the species of American represented by Hudson Falls (New York) Public Library Director Marie Gandron, and reflect upon how it proliferated, eventually taking control of the culture and permanently stigmatizing initiative and talent to achieve the current ideological Holy Grail of guaranteed equal outcomes.
Ms. Grandon thinks its unfair that the student who reads the most books in the library’s student reading club summer competition keeps winning the annual distinction of being honored as the student who read the most books in the library’s student reading club summer competition.
Following the immortal logic of those who regard rewards for superior performance one more injustice spawned by the oppressive values of the United States of America, she reacted to the annual triumph by 9-year-old Tyler Weaver, who just loves to read and who again lapped his fellow club members in the Summer Reading Challenge for the fourth straight year, by suggesting that the rules should be changed. In an interview, the library director said Tyler “hogs” the contest and should “step aside,” because the other kids “quit because they can’t keep up.” She told the reporter she planned on changing the rules of the contest so that instead of giving prizes to the children who read the most books, she would draw names out of a hat and declare winners that way.
Thus do the custodians of our children’s pliable and vulnerable minds teach them that they are entitled to rewards, honors, praise and distinctions by their very existence on the planet, whether they actually do anything to deserve them (that is, in the old fashioned, mean, unfair way of defining “deserve”) or not. As for those snotty, inconsiderate, self-esteem destroying “hogs” like Tyler, the Grandons of the world are battling to make sure they learn that it’s wrong to outperform, out-hustle and out-achieve one’s colleagues and contemporaries, and that doing so will only bring down on them resentment, anger and rejection from the right-thinking and fair-minded.
Lita Casey, an aide at the library for 28 years, apparently just doesn’t get it. She has protested that the current system is just fine: everyone in the club is on a level playing field; all begin and end the same day and all have the opportunity to read as many books as they wish. “My feeling is you work, you get it. That’s just the way it is in anything. My granddaughter started working on track in grade school and ended up being a national champ. Should she have backed off and said, ‘No, somebody else should win?’ I told (Gandron), but she said it’s not a contest, it’s the reading club and everybody should get a chance.”
Poor, old-fashioned, un-American Lita is clearly a hostage to those bad old ideas about the value of industriousness, effort and motivation that allow the greedy and selfish to achieve more just because they work harder and have superior abilities, the pigs. She needs to be, as Mr. Grady told Jack Torrence in “The Shining,” corrected. So, obviously, does that annoying hot-shot, Tyler. “If they end up where a librarian would pick out a name from a hat … she might only read one slip and then (that child) would be picked out. He didn’t put enough effort in and he won. It’s not fair,” he whined. “How would it even be a contest if you just picked a name out of a hat?” Boy…who taught him those values?
He doesn’t get it either. Fortunately, as more Grandon clones become teachers, administrators, elected representatives, policy makers, pundits, journalists, scholars and judges, these quaint but misbegotten ideas will wither and die, and we will finally have a just and compassionate society, where the lack of enterprise, effort, ambition or brains is no obstacle to achievement, and everybody feels good about themselves.
This will happen, too, unless the architects of our culture, us, realize that this path inevitably leads, if not to “1984,” to a slack, underachieving, uniformly mediocre existence for all, and refuse to let the Grandons drag us and our children down it, distributing unearned honors, praise and distinctions as they go.
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Facts and Graphic: Poststar
Ethics Alarms 
“This will happen, too, unless the architects of our culture, us, realize that this path inevitably leads, if not to “1984,” to a slack, underachieving, uniformly mediocre existence for all, and refuse to let the Grandons drag us and our children down it, distributing unearned honors, praise and distinctions as they go.”
It won’t lead to 1984. Not at all. Even though it may head that direction, the process will be cut off. It will lead to an America replaced (and I would submit replaced geographically, not just internationally) by aggressive cultures that haven’t forgotten that the only way to achieve is through individual perseverance and work ethic towards high standards that NOT everyone can reach.
So it possibly COULD lead to “1984,” imposed by an extra-American power base.
Poor kid, getting slapped down for daring to stand taller than your mediocre peers is a hell of a lesson to learn at the age of 9. Fingers crossed for him that he stays sane in the face of that sort of treatment long enough to find a social circle that can handle the fact that some people are better at some things.
The obvious solution if the kids are getting discouraged is to offer a 2nd prize.
I do think Ms Grandon;s suggestion has some merit though. All those staff who have participated in the running of the library, in whatever way, however minor, and including Ms Grandon of course, get their names put in a hat. The winner gets the Director’s salary. After all, Ms Grandon has hogged it for long enough. Far too long, in fact. She should step aside and give others a chance,
And yes, I’m completely serious about this.
W.S. Gilbert’s Mikado would get along with you very well.
“I have a little list, and they’ll none of the be missed.”
It’s like The Lottery, but without the uplifting ending…
Why not 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and then a raffle for everyone who read at least 1 book? That would encourage kids to at leat read once while giving people who really want to read more a bigger prize.
No doubt! My local library did an adult reading program for fun last fall- there were some token prizes for reaching thresholds, plus two “grand prizes.” One was for the person with the highest absolute score, another was given to the winner of a drawing of everyone who had reached a certain level (excepting the overall winner). Not that hard.
Exactly. You give out awards to the top achievers and then participation awards to everyone else. I remember fondly back on our library’s summer reading contest. There was a big picnic each summer for everyone who read a minimum number of books.
Which, according to the linked article, they do anyway- the sane assistant says that a lot of the kids just read the 10 required books to get to go to the party. And quite frankly, knowing how much some kids hate reading, isn’t bad- if you can convince a kid to read 10 books in 6 weeks rather than 0, you’re doing fine.
“When everyone is super, no one will be.” – Syndrome
Bravo, sir.
An excellent movie, and an excellent connection.
I do think Ms Grandon;s suggestion has some merit though. All those staff who have participated in the running of the library, in whatever way, however minor, and including Ms Grandon of course, get their names put in a hat. The winner gets the Director’s salary. After all, Ms Grandon has hogged it for long enough. Far too long, in fact. She should step aside and give others a chance,
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Perfect!
Rather than 1984, this made me think of Vonnegut’s short story, Harrison Bergeron.
Perfect.
I am kicking myself for not having already read that.
Actually…we know this family 🙂 their son has won 2nd place two years in a row…the nerve of that kid too :rollingeyes:
Some adults dont deserve to be adults….
Correction…the younger son (Tylers younger brother )
This is the eternal question. As a school librarian I see this kind of thing all the time. There are many ways to make sure everyone has a good time and achieves at their own level. It’s time to recognize the terrible toll making everyone equally miserable takes on our society.
JackB, you just beat me to it. I was just about to post a link to the story. Ms.Grandon should be forced to read it 10 times and write a report.
http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html
Thanks crella!
You’re welcome!
No words, Jack. No words. First, a nation of Psychopaths(a la Oklahoma shooting) and now sanctioned underachievement. I shudder for the future.
Pity all those other kids, not Tyler. I was just like him, and trust me, us bookworms will keep reading like it’s going out of style even when it is going out of style. The kids being handed ‘awards’ when they know they haven’t achieved anything are the real victims here, and my heart breaks for them.
Jack, I think you had a post about everyone getting participation trophies incentivizes mediocrity. I can’t find it.
Well here’s an association taking it back to the way it used to be:
Keller Youth Association yanks participation trophies