Our Position: Students shouldn’t press their peers for school information or feel like they need to be vocal about their grades, test scores or GPA to anyone.

In every single class, there’s the one student who complains upon receiving a 90 percent on the test. Do not be that kid.

School is difficult, especially when you attend a school like Lyons Township High School. Students study until graduation and discuss grades with their peers in a fairly competitive environment. At LT, students receive good test scores, and want to talk about it. It’s understandable, because if you are proud of your grades or good test scores, and you want to tell everyone about your achievements. A lot of kids have felt the joy upon receiving a good score. Most students have also been at the opposite end of the spectrum: knowing you didn’t do well, being the reason that there’s a curve, etc.

Either way, everyone knows that nothing hurts more than getting a bad grade and having Poindexter right next to you shove his 95 percent in your face. All students need to stop comparing themselves with other students, vocally or not, because it will only diminish how you see yourself. “Grade bragging” affects the self-esteem of students of all ages, but the actual retaliations are seen mostly from juniors and seniors.

In these years, students begin to apply to colleges, and that means beginning to compare and worry about SAT and ACT scores, and not to mention GPA. Most students love to peer onto another student’s computer to see their Naviance stats and maybe even get a peek at some numbers. There’s satisfaction in knowing how you did compared to your classmates. Kids find it comforting to place themselves on a range, seeing whether they are on the good or bad side.

Something you can do to prevent a self-esteem drop or competition in general is to stay quiet when talking about test scores. If you are ever asked, “what was your (ACT/SAT/test) score?” Simply reply with something vague, like “good enough,” “not as good as I hoped it would have been” or “I don’t say, but decent,” or however you think you did. When someone who constantly talks about their scores doesn’t do well, it’s obvious. Keep things to yourself, don’t brag and when things work out the way you want, (like getting into a certain school or graduating) the results will show for themselves, and you won’t have to say a thing.

Staff Vote: 28-0