The first "C" I ever got in school was in 3rd grade. Our parents had to pick it up from the teacher and my mom came and got them for us. I remember walking down the hallway to get my older sister's one being so proud of it. The concept of failing a class never really registering in my head yet. When I got home and showed my dad ,everything changed. I remember being yelled at because a C wasn't good enough, and if I continued to get them then apparently I would, "live behind a dumpster outside with no job." I hated coming home after school because I knew that there would be a math worksheet that my dad printed out for me to do, plus the ones that I already got for homework. I remember getting excited for new episodes of shows and then looking at the date they came on and suddenly dreading them, because we got report cards some time that week, and I didn't know if I made it or not. This continued on for years, I hated the kids who talked about getting a C like it was no big deal. I was scared for the ones who talked about getting an F. I'm almost halfway done with school, and I'm just now realizing that all the time I spent getting yelled at for a grade hurt me more then it helped. I spent all my time worrying about getting a B, that I didn't really pick up any of the information. The only thing I'm worried about is getting the most average score that I can and not have to go home every six weeks almost having a panic attack. The point is, scaring someone into doing what you think is helping them is not okay. I spent years thinking that it was perfectly normal to be on the verge of an anxiety attack every time I brought home a "bad" report card. Yeah it's nice to want your kids to have the best grades they can get, but telling a 8 year kid that if they make C's that they're gonna live behind a dump for the rest of their lives is fucking traumatic. Find a way to calmly tell them to make sure they stay on top of things, because in the end I guarantee you that they'll be more likely to study, then trying every method in the book to try and cheat on a test.
