Grade Inflation: It's Time to Face the Facts

Author Harvey C. Mansfield argues about Grade Inflation at Harvard in his article called Grade Inflation: It’s Time to Face the Facts. He is a professor at Harvard and he has also participated in grade inflation in his classes. Grade inflation is where academic grades are increased over time no matter the outcome of the work. Mansfield conducted an experiment in which he “gave students two grades: one for the register and the public record and the other which was private”. He discovered that the “private” grades were not as good as the public grades. This is because he graded them by their work, which resulted to some students with lower grades. Mansfield’s final thought is that grade inflation should not happen and that it “signifies that professors care less about their teaching”. I agree with Mansfield. I believe that grade inflation prevents students who work hard the recognition they deserve compared to students who don’t work as hard.

            Author Harvey C. Mansfield is a reliable source because he centers his paper based on his findings from Harvard. He is a professor of Political Science at Harvard and has witnessed grade inflation and has also done it himself. He also points out the different sides of grade inflation giving his point of view and then also mentioning other teachers, “Harvard professors who teach those admirable, self improving souls cannot restrain their own… high grades cost professors nothing.” (60). Teachers who give students high grades are ineffective while students are effective greatly by grades.

            I agree with Mansfield because giving a student an A when they really deserve an F is not teaching them how to be a better student. A student can not pass when they don’t deserve it because when someone doesn’t give them an A and gives them an F like Mansfield would, they won’t know how to change their grade. I also believe that teachers giving grades students don’t deserve make the students lazy because when students realize that all grades are high no matter the quality of their work, they will become lazy and not put their full effort in all their work. 

Violent Media is Good For Kids

Gerald Jones, author of Violent Media is Good For Kids, believes that “sheltering a child from “violence” is okay. Jones, a comic book author and screenwriter states, comics, which involved violence, was good for him.  He also mentions success stories, which involve young children watching “violent” television shows such as, “Sailor Moon” and how these shows help the children through a family crisis. While Jones has valid points, I disagree. I believe that some of these facts could be true; it really depends on the child and how you explain things to them.

            Gerald Jones’ tone seems very easy going. He isn’t just giving straight facts; he is slowly trying to convince the reader that violent media is good. I think this type of tone is good because most people have a very strong opinion about this topic and trying to be easy going is a good way to keep people reading. Also, he states that after hearing about “psychologists insisting that violent stores are harmful to kids…. That’s when I started the research”, he decides to do research on the opposing side. Jones does realize that violent entertainment can be harmful, but he does say that it can help children in desperate need. He states that it can help children who are going through hard times such as the divorce of their parents.

            I disagree with Jones because I believe that a child viewing violence depends on the child. Watching cartoons may be harmless as long as the child understands that what they see isn’t real. However, watching movies that are rated R and is not meant for children shouldn’t be shown to them. Jones also mentions a child’s craving to play with imaginary guns. Guns should not be something that children should pretend with. Guns are something that is usually seen as a weapon that hurts people, and children should not associate guns with killing.

            Jones brings up many good points throughout his article. To some extent I agree with him, some forms of violent media is harmless for children. However, the types of media most children see is not acceptable for their age and should not be shown to children.