Somehow we need to get away from taking away or giving to people, and make education and opportunity something anyone can EARN. Even video games know that you have to earn your bonus points, coins, unlocked level, etc in order to keep the motivation going.
When we see it as, "yeah, you are giving me an education, but you aren't giving me the same opportunity as that rare kid I saw on the news", something is wrong.
I see in real life the problems that kids have when the kids in the family are not cherished, and their education is not valued. And I also see system wide problems in the schools that penalize kids who are not organized, who have chaotic lives, distractions of poverty. Like that assignments are submitted online and if you don't have internet you can "go to the library". Like that pretty projects that were built in clean homes with plenty of space and expensive materials get better grades than projects that could not be paid for. Yes, the school system is unfair to kids in poverty and kids with dysfunctional families. That should be addressed. And there needs to be prizes along the way for those that can make it through their struggles-- like jobs. We have made it so very few jobs are available before 18. (I started work at 14, and most of my friends were working by 16. Now, most places won't take people til 18). We need to help kids develop the coping skills to be able to look at their situation and see a choice other than going to prison to join dad. After school programs attempt to address this, as does extended day. But they require parents to sign up and often to pay. The kids can't be the ones to say, "I need this so I have a place to do homework with internet access". The kids need to have more control over their lives, and a vision.
I don't think this blogger realizes that while nothing happens without opportunity, the "gifted" kids she resents, worked hard to take that opportunity and run with it. The kids she is talking about-- which are NOT the whole class-- need help. She needs to step up and advocate for them as she is sort of doing. And the kids need to take the opportunities they have and use them. It's not fair. Some kids are smarter, richer, more motivated, or more lucky than other kids. This is true at any school. We ought to be holding them up as examples rather than pretending that their hard work is unfair and stealing from everyone else. If we devalue the hard workers, we don't have those "prizes" along the way, and we will have fewer hard workers. Which I think already happens. It's not "cool" to be successful in school. It's more cool to succumb to advertising and have the best shoes, the best jacket, cable TV, and the coolest smart phone. And those that can't afford them feel deprived and motivated to get those status symbols.
