Everyone learns at a different pace, and it is not right to harass someone about the grades they are getting in school–whether they are good grades or bad grades.
There are students who put in a lot of hard work and dedication to get well-earned high grades and students who struggle more with school and have a tough time raising their grades. This doesn’t make these students “obnoxiously” smart or “annoyingly” dumb.
Getting an “A” on a midterm doesn’t make that student a horrible person who must be full of themselves because they do so well in school. Similarly getting an “F” on a midterm does not make a student useless or mean they won’t be successful later in life.
If someone wants to share their grades with you that is one thing, but looking over someone’s shoulder to see their grade and then making them feel bad about it is not okay.
Grades are private. They are not meant to be public information. There is a reason teachers are not allowed to show other students your grade. Students’ grades are meant only for themselves, their teachers, and their parents.
The night before an important exam, there are countless situations students may find themselves in. One student may have the entire night to study, one student may have sports or other commitments that night, and another may have an abundance of homework in all of their other classes. Sometimes it is simply that one student has the desire to study and do well and another student does not.
Sometimes the “smart” kids do bad on a test. That doesn’t mean they want to hear that they are dumb now or the infamous “You failed that test? I thought you were smart.”
Sometimes students struggle in one class but do well in others. That doesn’t mean they want to hear “You’re doing bad in this class, you must be terrible in every other.”
High school is a different experience for different students. Who you were in high school does not define who you will be later in life. As long as you are happy with yourself and your performance, it doesn’t matter where you rank. If you are unhappy with your academics, focus on fixing yourself instead of tearing down others.
Priorities vary from student to student. There are students who do not want to go to college after high school and that is perfectly fine. For them, their grades don’t matter as much.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are extremely ambitious students who want to do their absolute best on every single assignment and test and they make the time to do that. This doesn’t mean that these students are nerds or geeks who spend their entire life doing homework and studying.
Quit the smart and dumb shaming of others and focus on yourself.
