Introduction
A common practice that students engage in within a school environment is the sharing of test scores. Among other reasons students claim for doing so is “curiosity” or “just seeing how everyone did.” The assertion being made in this analysis aims to show the opposite of what these statements seem to entail. That the asking of one’s test score is an innocent act, based on nothing more than whimsical curiosity. Rather, the interrogative statement at hand is instead used to reinforce social hierarchy between students, asserting who is of higher standing and thereby who is more “intelligent” and who is of lower standing and thereby lesser than. Correspondingly, one has the ability to gain power over others by asserting a higher test score over their peers. They are more intelligent, more worthy, and higher in the social hierarchy. This is not to say there is a conscious, malevolent train of thought which drives people to apply power over others by asking for one’s test score. Rather, it is a subtle device, both to the actor and the acted upon, by which the former, knowingly or not, is reinforcing a social hierarchy for the sake of their own validation and status. The goal of this analysis is not to morally condemn those who engage in this practice, but to highlight how what seems to be an innocent action has detrimental consequences to a student population overall. Repeated over time, students begin to associate their identity and their capabilities over test scores. Especially for students on the bottom of this social hierarchy, there becomes a degree of acceptance whereby these students accept their lower test scores relative to their peers as evidence and proof of who they are. That they simply lack a certain disposition of intelligence. Students discipline their behaviors accordingly, and their beliefs, true or not, manifest themselves to be the final reality of their identity. A simple interrogative sentence has major and extending consequences upon individuals which can only be described as harmful. Once one understands such, it is of their duty to end their participation in such a practice.
How Panopticism Relates
The culture of sharing test scores fosters a system of surveillance where students are being observed and judged for how they do on tests. Students use what they hear from other students to categorize whether they did “poorly,” “average,” or “good.” This anticipation of judgment of how people may categorically define their score leads to students judging and monitoring themselves. They begin assuming what others will think of them: “They’ll think I’m stupid”; “They’ll think I’m not as smart”; “They’ll think I scored poorly.” And they use those anticipated judgments to begin judging themselves in a negative light: “I’m stupid”; “I’m not as smart as them”; “I did poorly.” Anticipated judgments become personal judgments which become the building blocks of identity, of how students define themselves. Students are compelled to explain why they scored what the group defines as poor. “I only scored lower since I’m not naturally smart like you.” In anticipating the judgment of others, they seek an explanation to explain their ‘deficits.’ And in their explanations are students internalizing false assumptions about their abilities. Compounded over the span of years, the foundations of identity warp and transform around these assumptions. What are the effects? Taking less advanced classes, accepting lower academic performances as inevitable, and doing less since they believe they can’t do more. What were once assumptions about their abilities are now inadvertently being made a truth. Those on the bottom discipline themselves to stay at the bottom, keeping the social hierarchy sustained.
The Obsession over Hierarchy
This entire analysis relies on a central premise, an axiom that we are assuming is the case for human individuals broadly. And that is we aspire to be ‘above’ others. We desire to be closer to the top of the hierarchy than any and all else. Hierarchies come in many forms and are not limited to conventional hierarchies such as those aspiring to be the most wealthy or to be of the highest class. There are ‘class’ hierarchies, that is true; but, there are also hierarchies of morality, hierarchies of intellect, hierarchies of skill, and so on and so forth. No one is removed from the desire to ascend the social hierarchy, in whatever form they choose to follow. Consciously or subconsciously, in it a driver of our nature, as embedded into how we function as our desire to eat and drink and sleep. Of course, the obsession over hierarchy, results itself from an even deeper part of the human condition, being the fear of our own mortality, but as is relevant to this analysis, you need only accept that this desire is constant in all humans.
Takeaway
It is immensely helpful when literature can impart on us something that helps us better lead our lives. In the case of the analysis that has been presented, there are perhaps some key takeaways that you can utilize in going about your own life and the social situations that emerge from such. While we cannot remove our desire to be high in societal hierarchies, we do not need to participate in all such hierarchies, especially those hierarchies that cause immense harm. In the case of what was addressed about test scores, opting not to constantly ask individuals about their test scores or appraising it publicly as a sign of superior intelligence in individuals who do well is what I would personally recommend. If someone asks for your score, that’s your prerogative to share; however, you need not and should not initiate such talks yourself, asking for the score of others and in such making social engagements a means of comparison which you can buoy yourself at the expense of others. It’s a harmful practice that, for a care of those around you, should be left by the wayside.
