By Hannah McGaughey
It is my opinion that, overall, social promotion (the practice of promoting a student to the next grade level despite failure to obtain the required passing level) causes more harm than good. However, I feel that social promotion could be used in beneficial ways depending on the situation.
I am a strong advocate that one does not need to receive extremely high grades during school in order to be a successful person later on in life. However, it is a fact that in high school if you fail a course you will not receive a credit for it; social promotion does not prepare students for this. However, I do not think it is right to make a child feel like a failure simply because they are having difficult times understanding concepts such as addition or spelling and other subjects that are focused on heavily in elementary school where most social promotion takes place. So, if failing is not the answer and social promotion is not either, than what is?
I feel that when young students begin showing signs that they are having difficulty with a concept, action should be taken to help them immediately. If the problem is fixed before it progresses any further, it will be less likely for said issue to possibly be the thing which causes a student to receive a failing grade. If students do not receive the assistance they need from a young age and continue to struggle yet still are promoted to the next grade level, they will eventually be stuck in a rut which may make high school a much bigger challenge than it should be. However, every situation is different and I feel it should be left up to parents and teachers to make the decision whether social promotion will be beneficial to a child or not.