What makes smart students (A -A minus students) a threat to other students? In s

1. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   What makes smart students (A -A minus students) a threat to other students? In some
   
   schools, smart students are derided, demonized, even ostracized & bullied.  The culture is that it is not cool to be smart.
   
   

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2. 77

   Cynthia Hooverposted 10 years ago

   It really is not just the smart ones. I think it also has a lot to do with the area you are in. It is usually anyone who is different. Bullying is a serious thing my nephew is very smart and gets bullied yet his friends do as well and they are not considered smart kids.
   
   It is more of a social disease, bullying. A bully gets a heightened feeling of self worth from demoralizing others. Perhaps because they have any number of emotional disorders or are suffering abuse at home. Often times, they are just jerks.
   
   Just keep in mind the smarter you are, the more likely you will be the one with a great job. While a bully will be at an entry level position most of their lives.

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3. 98

   Theophanesposted 10 years ago

   Academically-minded students usually are very focused on that and little else so they tend to be perhaps physically weaker, perhaps socially weaker, perhaps not as confidant or able to stand up to threats against them. To put it plain and simple - they're easy targets.
   
   Bullies don't bully 'threats', those they leave the hell alone for fear of having their own ass kicked. They bully those they perceive as weaker than themselves, easy targets, like the cowards they often are.

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4. 60

   kj forceposted 10 years ago

   The better students are focused on their learning and don't usually bother with those who differ, which sometimes may come across as an uppity attitude. This causes them to become a target for ridicule and bullying , which is just a feeling of power by the bully.
   Sometimes Teachers and Parents can also be part of the problem when they make comments or draw attention regarding the " A " student, as to "why can't you be like so and so "...However...I feel good student should get recognition for their achievements.. 
   Bullying is just petty jealousy and needs to be addressed in all schools, before it gets worse.

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5. 52

   aharrisposted 10 years ago

   This question presumes that "smart, A - A+" students actually are a threat to anyone.  First, "smart" and "A-A+" are not the same thing.  Plenty of smart students earn average grates and even more A students are not smart.  It is a matter of achievement - there is underachievment, overachievement, nonachievement, and achievement, and any one person can exhibit any of these behaviors at any time. 
   
   The threat you describe is a perception that says far more about the person feeling threatened than the person evoking that emotion. Any learner who feels threatened by other students would be well advised to get a grip and look within to find the source of their insecurity.
   
   Birth is a kind of genetic lottery.  There are a lot of ways to measure "smart" and achievement is more about motivation than smarts.  There are 2 ways to look at achievement.  One either runs a race because they love running and would do it even if there was no one else in the contest, or they feel compelled to outrun everyone else in order to avoid losing. The outcome looks the same, and you can't always distinguish between a "winner" who enjoys learning from a "winner" who is afraid of failure. 
   
   Good students are a threat to no one with a single exception.  Measuring grades on a "curve" has value.  But a normal curve is a measurement of 1) the effectiveness of a teacher's instruction, and 2) the validity of the test instrument.  I never manipulated grades to match a curve, thereby creating competition among students for a very few top grades.  But on those few occasions as a rookie when the bell of the curve fell either too far to the left or right of "average," I looked to myself for the answer.  If I hadn't taught effectively, the curve would show it and I threw those grades out, re-taught the concept, and re-tested. The curve would also showed if a test (I always wrote my own) was too easy or too hard, so I sometimes threw those grades out, too, wrote a better one that was a fair measure of mastery.
   
   If an unskilled teacher misuses the grading curve to limit the number of high and low grades, that creates a toxic environment in which only the lucky inheritors of good brains and the neurotic overachievers will definitely hog the goods, and they do become a threat.  But it is not about the kids, it's about their teacher.

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