Parents don’t like basis for kids’ grades

SAN PEDRO, Laguna—Since when did generating “likes” on their Facebook page become the basis for students’ grades?

Several parents took exception to the way students at Pedro Guevara Memorial National High School in Sta. Cruz here were being graded based on how many Facebook users they could get to click the “like” button for the video project they had posted on their social media site.

The project, created by freshman high school students, was on short videos on poverty. One group filmed a 10-minute skit about an impoverished family, another made a three-minute collage of photos showing slum areas.

The students posted the videos on Facebook and raced to solicit “likes.”

The creators of the video that earned the most number of “likes” would be exempted from their Filipino exam, according to a post by one student.

Clicking the “like” or thumbs-up button under a post on Facebook indicates that the user enjoyed it, without having to write a comment.

Photo and beauty contests have used Facebook in generating votes online in what has become a scramble for popularity.

But some parents and students, in Facebook comments, expressed their objection to using the social networking site for academic purposes.

“What’s with their teachers? Are they going to base it (grades) next on text votes?” posted a parent who requested anonymity as she had a relative who went to the school.

Marlenn Sarmiento, a mother of two, said in a comment that students must be assessed based on their academic performance.

Other mothers worried about exposing students to online strangers, with one calling it “stupid” as it could ruin the children’s self-esteem once they realized they did not have many friends online.

Facebook user Rhei Romero wrote: “Have the teachers lost their wits in giving fair grades? We don’t even see all the projects submitted by the other students. That’s not very fair.”

But Jeannette de Leon, principal of the school, said she did not see anything wrong with the use of the social networking site. She also pointed out that it was just for one class activity and was not the sole basis for the students’ final grades.