Lynn Woolley
Monday, Aug. 13, 2001

On the other hand, if you visit the locker room of your local middle school or high school, you're much more likely to see a sign that reads "school pride." Have you ever thought about why the academic side of the school stresses self-esteem while the athletic department promotes pride?

The dictionary definition may be helpful. One of the definitions given for "self esteem" is "self-conceit." For "pride," however, the definition is more precise: "a reasonable or justifiable self-respect."

A winning football coach worries little about self-esteem. He selects his starting lineup based on what accomplishments his players have made in past games or how well they've done in practice. Only when his team is ahead by 40 points with time running out does he think about putting his second- or third-stringers into the game.

The thought process is different over on the academic side. Since the '60s, education "experts" have determined that students must feel good about themselves, regardless of their accomplishments. Under this point of view, if a student does poorly on a test, then the test must be biased; it certainly couldn't be the result of poor preparation by the student. This type of muddy thinking has also led to such disasters as "whole language" programs and social promotion.

Over in the losing locker room after the big game, the coach is raising heck with his players. He's telling them that they will be running more track, doing more push-ups and working on the basics of blocking and tackling. He's telling them that there's another game next Friday, and that they've got one week to get their act together. He talks about pride, all right, but he doesn't mention anything about anyone being "special."

The fact is that very few students are special. Only a few will grow up to become president or invent some new life-saving drug. With rare exceptions, schoolkids are "gifted and talented" only in the minds of their own parents. Even on the football field, only a small number of players will be offered college scholarships, and fewer still will move to the professional ranks.

Meanwhile, what's going on in the winning locker room? That coach is most likely bragging to his kids about the way they executed the plays and worked as a team. He's talking about that clutch reception and about the big hole the line opened up for the winning touchdown. He's telling his team to have pride in what they accomplished.

But in the classroom, sadly, accomplishments mean less. Students who are told they are special for no reason at all may come to believe it, and that is a recipe for disaster. As John Rosemond points out, few people would want to hang out with adults who genuinely believe they are special. Why, then, do we teach this to our children?

Back in his college days, a certain columnist got called on the carpet by his biology teacher. "You’re going to make a D this semester," she announced. "The second semester is harder. I don't want to see you back in my class." As you might expect, this was not nurturing to this young man's self-esteem, his pride, or anything else. But it was a challenge. He not only enrolled in the second semester of biology, he achieved a 90 average.

The point here is simple. If public schools are to succeed, they, too, must challenge; they should learn from the football coach. Young students require a solid grasp of the basics (blocking and tackling in football; reading and writing in class) before they can move on to higher skills.

If Johnny can't read, it may be because Johnny has too much self-esteem and not enough phonics. Let's stop telling him that he's special, and let him take pride in what he can accomplish.

Lynn Woolley’s e-mail address is lynn@belogical.com