A young girl plays tennis.
In perhaps a perfect display of one of the many differences between Gen X/boomers and millennials/Gen Z and younger, an 11-year-old took to email to make a plea to her physical education teacher for a better grade.
Her aunt, posting on Threads, shared, "My 11-year-old niece told me she was getting a B in PE and wrote an email to the teacher to dispute it. I told her I’m so proud and to never stop advocating for herself. It’s also very funny! She better change my niece’s grade too."
11-year-old writes heartfelt letter to PE teacher disputing her grade and sparks heated debate https://www.threads.com/@the99x2000
The more than 500 comments were sharply divided. On one hand, the young girl advocated for herself, which is to be commended. On the other, she seemed to essentially suggest that she should get an "A" just for being a willing participant in the class. Is it enough just to try? It's the old "participation debate," and the comment section lit up with opinions.
Some downright agreed with her: "Honestly I’d love an update if the teacher responds. Leah made some VERY valid points and we, the people, believe she deserves a very detailed explanation on why this teacher feels she deserves a B!"
Another shared, "Honestly I think it’s so important to teach your niece to advocate for herself in school. Throughout high school and even now through university, I've had to get teachers to recheck my work when I feel I have been graded unfairly, and it almost always results in my grade going up. Might be a little inconvenient for the teacher, but who cares, this stuff is important. Tell her we're proud!"
An unfortunate volleyball hit. Giphy Mr. D Gym GIF
Her own mom certainly had her back: "So funny, I saw her on her laptop when she wrote this. Asked what she was doing, she said emailing my teacher about this B. I said oh and walked away, she seemed to have it handled. Never did she show the email lol. This is hilarious. I expect nothing less from this daughter of mine."
A few people pointed out that the young girl needed better writing/communication skills. But many pointed out that her writing was not the point at this juncture.
Participation "trophies" (which wasn't necessarily the case for this young girl) have been a subject of controversy for a while. A college professor of journalism, Justice B. Hill, did not hold back in his opinion column posted to Cleveland.com. He claims that many of his students were coddled to believe they had achieved excellence when they in fact had not. He writes, "Outside the ivory towers is an unforgiving world, so we must steel our daughters and sons for what awaits. They must be unafraid of defeat, but they must learn never to let it defeat them."
You deserve a trophy! Giphy GIF by StickerGiant
That said, our Threads OP had an update, seemingly focused on the people she found egregious in their responses. "BY THE WAY! My niece read some comments and responded lol: ‘My teacher said she will fix my grade and I do deserve an A. She hasn’t been paying attention and she does recognize that. And other people have asked about their grade, and it’s on her to make it clear on how people are graded. SO SHUT UP!’"
To this comment, a Threader focused on the aunt herself: "This is a good time to teach her that self-advocacy does not need to include accusatory language (I’m starting to feel like you’re giving me a bad grade when you don’t even genuinely watch me play). Always reread your messages and remove combative, accusatory language because it’ll land better with the person on the receiving end."