To those children who never make student of the month

“To those children who never make student of the month “

"My son has loved attending his amazing school, but it’s been tough for him. In the second grade, he was diagnosed with ADHD. We’d struggled since preschool with trying to help him acclimate to a school environment, so the diagnosis didn’t come as a surprise. But it wasn’t until the middle of third grade that we began medicating our son for his ADHD. Even after beginning medication, we had some rough semesters, grade-wise. There were so many teacher conferences, so many tears at night over homework, so many assignments finished but not turned in. So many zeros. We eventually got Lucas’s medication straightened out, and he’s doing much better in school. In fact, this last semester he got straight A’s for the first time. I’m proud, of course, because he worked his butt off, but that’s not the point I want to make. Even if he’d made C’s, he still worked his butt off. My point is, kids who work really hard to make C’s don’t get awards. Although I don’t begrudge celebrating a child’s success, I think we are doing a disservice to kids who are affected by disorders that impact their academic performance. We are inadvertently shaming kids who are dealing with ADHD or anxiety or autism or other issues that make school exponentially harder. When my son came up to me after the ceremony, tears in his eyes because he was sad to be leaving the school, he said, “Mom, I think I was the only one that didn’t get a Presidential Award.” He noticed. Of course, he noticed. He knows he’s overcome so much and worked so hard to pull his grades up, so, yeah, it was a punch to the gut for him to get left out. My son will be okay though – once his official report card comes in, we’ll celebrate his efforts in a big way. But what about other kids who have experienced similar, awards ceremony after awards ceremony, year after year after year? If you’re a parent of one of these kids, you know how hard they work. You know how hard you work. You know that persistence and dedication does not always correlate to measurable achievement. You know that often, your child has to work twice as hard as some of the straight-A students just to earn a C. And you know that often, no one notices. I’m not here to detract from the straight-A students’ accomplishments or say they are undeserving. These kids absolutely deserve recognition for their hard work. What I am here to say is this: To the parent of the kid who is trying really hard but not quite measuring up, I see you. I see your kid. I see your struggle. I see how hard you’re working. I see you helicoptering over your child even though that is something you promised yourself you would never do, but you have no choice but to hover because your kid would utterly, abysmally fail if you didn’t. You are trying so hard, and so is your child, and I see you. Your kid might not get a fancy certificate with a signature stamp from the president of United States, but you sure as hell have my respect and admiration. And so does your kid." 

Source- Brain power neurodevelopmental centre.

Aparajita Srivastav

PGT – Sunbeam Lahartara