From: guy@mspe5.b11.ingr.com (Guy D. McConnell)
Subject: Re: Stupid bumper sticker
Reply-To: guy@mspe5.b11.ingr.com (Guy McConnell)
Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL
Distribution: hsv
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 17:27:42 GMT

In article <1992Dec14.195922.18249@infonode.ingr.com>, brantley@infonode.ingr.com (Dwight D. Brantley) writes:
|> In article <1992Dec14.171247.8132@b8.b8.ingr.com> larry@b8.b8.ingr.com (Larry Billings) writes in regards to the following bumper sticker:
|> 
|> >> >	"My kid beat up your honor student"
|> 
|> >Did anyone happen to think that the bumper sticker was "a joke"?  I happen to
|> >think it is very humorous, of course I'm not an especially big fan of the
|> >"My kid is smarter than your kid" bumper stickers.  So your kid is a "NERD",
|> >so what???
|> 
|> On the serious side, these "My kid is on the honor roll" bumper stickers
|> are intended to be motivational tools for the students.  Sure the parents
|> get some pride in displaying the sticker but most importantly it is the
|> pride that the student gets when she/he brings the sticker home from school
|> and says "Mom, Dad, look what I got!".  Could anyone then respond "That's
|> great, but you're not putting that thing on MY car!"?  
|> 
|> So what's my point?  Well, I just wanted to enlighten the net on the
|> origin and purpose of the honor roll stickers.  They are not something
|> that you go out and buy.  The student EARNS them and are AWARDED them
|> by the school.  To make fun of them is childish at the least and to
|> outwardly display such a thought is...well...let's just say that I
|> would not care to have this guy as a neighbor. 

    My point exactly.  So many cars have "So and so football" or "My kid and my
money go to Generic U."  It is nice, whatever you think about it, to see the
initiative to excel in academics displayed as proudly, rather than hide the fact
that your child knows his/her left from their right.  Classifying someone who
would earn such an honor a "Nerd" is precisely what I meant when I said that the
bumper sticker I saw "speaks volumes".  The general opinion is that, if you're
an honor student, you can't be a "jock" and vice versa.  That perception is 
largely responsible for the seperation of the two in our childrens' minds too.
For what it is worth, I was an honor student in High School (before these stickers
came out) and starting quarterback and free safety on the football team too.  My
younger brother was Valedictorian of his class as well as starting wide-receiver
and cornerback on the same football team as Bo Jackson.  His athletic skills 
didn't get him into college but his academics did.  As for whether he'd qualify
as a "nerd" or not, Bo Jackson has about 6" and 80 pounds on him but I've seen 
him stop Bo dead in his tracks.  How many would like to try that one, even with
his bad hip?  The point is that until academic acheivements are accorded the same
pride as athletics, we cannot expect our children to want to excel there.

--
==============================================================================
 Guy D. McConnell, Systems Engineer |            |"May you have food and
 Intergraph Corp.  Mail Stop CR1105 |     My     | raiment, a soft pillow
 Huntsville, AL. 35894-0001         |  opinions  | for your head, and may
 Computer and Storage Technology    |  are just  | you be forty years in
 Evaluation  Group                  |  exactly   | heaven before the devil
 uunet!ingr.com!b11!mspe5!guy       |    that.   | knows you're dead!"
 (205)730-6289   FAX (205)730-6011  |            |          --Irish Toast--
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