Friday 19 August 2016

SMoasting Open Season

It's only a day after the A level results came out but already the Facebook Smoasters ( Social Media Boasters ) are out in droves shoving their children's multiple A* grades in those less fortuntates' faces.

What happened to that very British trait called modesty ? It's fine to share your glorious news with your family via phone calls, private texts, letters or emails but why the hell would you want to rub those whose dreams lie in tatters' noses in the shit ?

These obnoxious people usual accompany their bragging boast with a picture of a glass of celebratory champagne. I do hope they choke on it. I worry for their offspring if this is what their parents are role modelling as an acceptable form of behaviour.

So, my heart-felt congratulations instead are reserved for :


  • All of those students who had an academic mountain to climb 
  • Will doubtless have worked far harder than any of the A* proteges 
  • May not have achieved the giddy heights of academic stardom and yet will have borne their disappointments with far greater stoicism and humility than the A* braggarts would ever have managed
  • The parents who have stood by their struggling children,  provided the shoulders to cry on and the emotional support through their children's years of schooling

Shame on those who felt the need to publicly humiliate those who did not excel on results day, will have known this but felt the need to brag regardless and validate their gene pool of brilliance. Doubtless they will demand their right to celebrate their child's victories but had they paused for a minute to think about the misery and feelings of inadequacy they may have inflicted on others , might they not have realised that their pride can be expressed in more private ways ?  

So, for all those wonderful young men and women whose efforts in the face of adversity may not have been rewarded , you can stand on the higher moral ground and be certain in the knowledge that your achievements are far greater and one day will be rewarded. You have learnt a far greater lesson and will be stronger for it. Be brave, be proud and as Rudyard Kipling once wrote Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it '.

4 comments:

  1. You've written exactly what I've been thinking. No one knows the effort that some people have to put in to pass an exam at all. My kids had to work hard to get their grades, they weren't A* students by any means but they did their absolute best and we were so proud of their achievements as we knew the amount of stress, worry and hard graft that went into getting them.

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  2. I used to be an A level English Literature teacher and I can vouch for the students who work really hard, do everything that their teacher asks of them, turns up for all the classes, reads all the books and they get a C. It is their best achievement and they should feel proud. As an examiner/marker let me say that not every student performs well on the day, nor has the nerves that allows them to express themselves clearly and accurately but they have still achieved. Incidentally, I didn't get an A nor an A star I got a B and I was pleased as punch. Boasting parents should just get a grip, it is your offspring's achievement, not your own, and if you have paid exorbitant school fees, well your kid had an unfair advantage. Rant over!!

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  3. Thank you for your comments Debs and Carole . It's god to know I'm not the only one that feels this way . My son's AS level grades were a mixed bag. He is very dyslexic and dyspraxic but I know that he stayed behind every day at school to catch up if ever he got behind, spent every weekend revising and worked his socks off throughout the whole year. His Cs and Ds are worth a million A grades any day !

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  4. I LOVE this post Claire, I hate the people that brag and normally find their the parents of kids who can barely wipe their own arses but find learning easy. For over 20 years I've had to hire staff and these people with tons of A*s are normally put at the bottom of the pile when it comes to handing out jobs because there are so many lessons in life that they've missed whereas the ones who've had to work a hell of a lot harder are just the sort of employees most companies need x

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