E is the New F????

How did you do in school? I did pretty well, I never had too many problems. Some children do, unfortunately, either because they don't understand, or they don't want to understand. I saw an interesting thing on the news, recently. A child who had been getting bad grades because he didn't want to do the work was made to stand on a street corner, holding a sign that showed his bad grades. I think the parents should get a medal. The child was mortified, and maybe that is the incentive that he needs to work toward his future. The problem that I had was when the interviewer asked what the grade E stood for. It would seem that an E is the new F. How stupid is that?? Has the trauma of getting an F become so much that we have to cushion the children from it? I can't understand why we are lagging further and further behind in the world, can you? Here is a thought: If a child is doing so badly in school that he is getting the worst grade possible, quit worrying about his sensitivity and start worrying about teaching him! If the teachers aren't getting the job done, get different teachers, and suggest a different career to the ones that you have. If the problem is the child, let the school discipline the child so that he isn't a distraction to himself and the other children in his class. If you don't want to have the school discipline him, then find someone who will. I know of some areas that hold the parents of the child responsible. I love that idea, also. It works like this: If a child is becoming a disciplinary problem at school, the parents must serve the detention with the child in order to keep the child in school. A couple of Saturdays of having to rearrange a schedule should make discipline a top priority again, shouldn't it? I'll bet you are just waiting on the segue, aren't you? Well, here it is. I have received many emails from irritated associates at Walmart because the former department managers who are now zone managers are discovering that there is work out side of the banker's hours they had been working. They seem to be furious that they are going to be required to give up those comfortable schedules of 5-2, 6-3, or even 7-4. I don't have any sympathy here. Sorry. Having been a CSM with a schedule that had me work 2-11, 6-3, 2-11, then 6-3 again, I think that if you want a job, then you take the hours that go with it. It is retail, after all, and maybe you should be there when the customers are there. I've said it before, the same goes for the pristine bunch in the back. If the store is open 24 hours a day, then the whole store should be open 24 hours a day. Why should a third shift associate have to stay late or get up in the middle of the night(for them) to make changes to their file? And I know, without a doubt, that if Walmart began having their UPC associates, and the others in the back offices work 3 shift days, that the rest of the retail industry would follow suit. I have made room in my email for the blast of letters I am sure to receive, but I stand fast on this one. Not having back office help in a 24 hour store is as stupid as changing the letter of the bad grades so that children aren't getting embarrassed by them. So no more opportunities for improvement, no more challenges instead of problems, and definitely no more E because the F makes the child feel bad. You'll thank me later.