We can debate all day whether the way students are graded in the U.S. is an accurate sign of their intelligence or their ability to learn. What we can’t debate is whether getting good grades has a positive effect on a student’s life.
Good grade discounts on auto insurance, colleges who are interested in letting you into their school, and being allowed to play sports are all benefits of getting good grades in school. We’ll talk about these benefits and more, along with how kids and parents can work together to get better grades in school, even when kids get discouraged.
This ranges from talking to a school counselor, going to a private school, or opting for homeschooling. We’ll also discuss whether schools and teachers can do more to encourage getting good grades by creating more benefits for getting A’s and B’s.
#1 – Auto Insurance Discounts
Learning how to drive is one of the most exciting things about being a teenager, but it also creates a lot of problems for the parents of those kids. From the stress of worrying about your teen’s safety to getting the best auto insurance premiums for new drivers, there’s a lot to think about.
Fortunately, getting good grades helps teen drivers get discounts on their auto insurance. Showing your agent that your teen driver has maintained a GPA of 3.5 or higher will typically create a discount. You will have to show proof of these grades every time you re-up your policy to keep the discount, otherwise, insurance companies will take it away.
It may not seem fair that getting good grades gives you a discount on your auto insurance. Why do companies do this? Good grades are often a sign that a student has shown a drive to succeed and a commitment to excellence in their young life.
Insurance companies must have evidence to suggest that kids who have good grades get into fewer accidents. They are responsible and want to learn how to drive to the best of their abilities, which is similar to what they do in school.
Still, kids with learning disabilities and those who struggle in school deserve a chance for discounts on insurance. The best thing these teens can do is keep a clean driving record and build a good reputation with their insurance company so they can get a better policy in the future.
#2 – Getting Into College Is Easier
Grades used to be the only thing colleges cared about when looking at potential students to let into their schools. Now they also look at things like extracurricular activities and sports, as well as community service. That doesn’t mean you are going to have much success getting into a university if you averaged a D in high school.
Getting good grades is an indicator that a student can handle the difficulty of the material that will be taught in college. If you can’t get a good grade on a paper in 12th grade, it’s going to be hard to handle college work. If you want to go to college, you need to get good grades, and this is a running theme that will probably still exist 50 years from now.
If you didn’t get good enough grades to get into college, there is still the option of going to a technical school or a vocational training school. These places are more for skilled-labor jobs like plumbing and electrical. Depending on the type of technical school you want to go to, they may still consider what grades you got previously.
#3 – Getting a Job Is Easier
If you want to get a good-paying job, it is still going to be tough to do that without a college degree. As we talked about above, you need to get good grades to go to college. So in many ways, getting poor grades in school may prevent you from getting a career that you want down the road.
If you get good grades in college, this may look really good on your resume when you are applying to your first job afterward. Depending on what else is on your resume, having good grades may stand out even more if you don’t have much experience, internships, or community service work.
#4 – You Get to Play Sports and Join Clubs
Most high schools don’t let you join sports teams or be a part of extracurricular activities and clubs if you have a poor GPA. This is because they want to make sure you are putting your academics first and the other stuff in your school life second.
We can debate whether this is right or wrong, but having good grades will let people do the fun things they want to do in school. This should have a positive effect on your grades because you are happy in other areas of your life. And we all know that there are tons of benefits to kids playing sports and joining clubs, both socially and health-wise.
#5 – Good Grades (Sometimes) Increase Confidence
Because there is so much importance placed on grades, and many people tie grades to intelligence (this isn’t right, though), kids who get good grades may feel more confident in their ability to do other things well in life. When other things aren’t going well in other areas outside of school, a kid can look at their grades and take great pride in their work in the classroom.
It’s also been proven that kids who obsess over getting good grades may have confidence issues later in life. It’s vital for parents not to push their kids too far in school. Encourage your child to do well, but don’t be so harsh that your child develops mental health or self-esteem issues.
Parents should consider putting their kids in private school or homeschooling them if grades become too much of an overwhelming burden in their lives. These types of schools place less importance on grades than public schools do.
You can see that getting good grades is important for a variety of reasons for kids. From getting into college to obtaining their dream career, getting good grades will always be a huge factor in the success rate of young people all over the world. Just make sure that you balance your life, too. Grades aren’t the only thing that matter in life, after all.
