In Praise of the F word Read and Respond

The theory Sherry is standing up for is a good one. I do not totally agree with her though, 
Someone in my family is very smart, they are getting higher grades in all of their classes, but they have struggled in science all year.  They have trouble getting motivated to do their assignments for this class. They do however get high marks on the tests.

I believe that in this particular subject the teacher and the child do not get a long.  This child has been through four school changes in the last four years. They are a product of a very nasty divorce, and they are being forced to live with the parent they do not get along with.  This child entered in the middle of a term, and the teacher expected the child to catch up in the science workbook.  I know because during Christmas vacation they stayed with me and we worked about eight hours to catch up that work.  They are bitter about having to catch up that work, when they entered school later than everyone else. According to what I have been told, the teacher reprimands the child in front of the entire class. The child is still in a difficult situation at home, and they have had all their privileges taken away, and Dad is really angry at that child all the time.  Dad refuses to sit down with that child, Dad thinks this child does this to get back at him for divorcing their Mom. Like I said, each learning problem can have another problem behind it.

Now, I will explain why I do not totally agree with Sherry's theory.

I believe that children work at their own level of skill, with help, most of the time.
I believe that children respond to family situations in different ways. One way, is do things to get attention, or maybe they really do have problems understanding the workbook.
Maybe, failing students should be ok, but I think it only embarrasses them and might harm their ability to recover from failing.  I know from my own personal experiences if I receive a F,  it makes me feel depressed, and with the effort I have put into the work, and yet I do no comprehend what I am being taught, it is hard to get back to studying again.  I go to all my classes and pay attention, take notes, do homework, and yet sometimes I do get and F. So, I believe we need to find out what caused the F and work with that child and encourage them, not belittle them.  Failure is not a good thing for anyone, I do not encourage failure, but sometimes, failure happens.

Some day it would be wonderful if we were all smart and did not have to struggle so hard to be an "A" student.