[hyde]

All these posts about life and parenting have had me thinking.
and last night I ran into a situation that drives me to rant.

High school senior, a bright girl, youngest and from a professional family. Has a lock on being Valdictorian for her class.
Come to find out that since freshman year she has taken basic college prep courses, not a single AP course for which she has the capacity. Her goal since freshman year has been to finish top of the class. Her parents support this goal. The school board and the guidance department do not support weighted scores for AP classwork.
Needless to say the next five students in the class have taken all the AP classes they could. AND ARE A BIT MIFFED that she has taken the easy path to the goal. So she has few friends in school and states she doesn't really care. One might say she lacks warmth.
So on the ride home I get to ranting about the situation and conclude that:
The school has done the other students a disservice by not weighting AP classes.
Her parents have done her a disservice by not insisting she work to her capabilities. They had an opportunity to instill character and did not.
She has done herself a disservice by not acquiring the knowledge available to her.
The additional knowledge that she did not acquire would have served her well in her next level of schooling.
Bottom line is she has sacrificed so much for a goal of being the best, but it is the best of the lowest level. Her next level of education will be that much harder because of this.
She is the Barry Bonds of class ranking, she deserves an asterisk on the program. ( OK, maybe a bit harsh for a high school kid, but her parents deserve a KITN).

end/rant.

oh, and sorry about the BBV title titillation on the post..