Summary Of In Praise Of The F Word By Mary Sherry

In the article, “In Praise of the F Word” by Mary Sherry, elaborates on how a healthy fear of failure can help students in the long run. Motivation is the key to success in any academic career and one of the strongest, natural motivators is fear. Sherry explains that the “fear of failure, weather economic or academic, can motivate both,” (2) showing that fear will provide the incentive for the students to pass on their own. The fear of failing a class can motivate students to complete their work at a responsible rate. Sherry explains that “most kids don’t put school first . . . unless they perceive something is at stake” (2) and a grade-driven pressure can do that. With that newly-found perspective, academics can first priority. Through the stresses of deadlines, students can learn how to properly prepare for and complete their assignments as their learn.

Sherry explains that she “see[s] a parade of students who are angry and resentful for having been passed along until they could no longer even pretend to keep up” (2) as they are expected to know certain things from the preceding year. Failing students who have not learned the class material, prevents them from being set up for failure. Sherry recalls, “‘I should have been held back [in school],’ is a comment I hear frequently,” (2) from hearing out students who have not benefited from the current schooling methods. Former students who were wrongfully passed along through high school, later realise that they do not have many of the skills their education should have given them. Passing students who have not understood what there is to learn, cheats them out of the