Denis Ian writes:

Lots of parents agonize over the opt-out decision … especially when they have a very confident and competent youngster who’s anxious to show his or her proficiency. This seems especially true with the math assessments.

These parents know the inherent flaws of the entire assessment experience, but they think this one exception … for this one test … might be okay.

Think again. There’s a larger life lesson here.

Sometimes we all have to teach our children hard lessons. And, as they grow older, we have to let them know that they’re not the center of the universe.

That there are issues larger and more important than their lives … larger than their comforts. And larger than their personal triumphs.

And that sometimes … being right and noble … is very uncomfortable. Especially if it involves going against some authority … or some peers … for the very first time.

I get this dilemma. Lots do, too.

Folks know these tests are wrong. Educationally unsound. Hurtful.

I get that their child is the confident sort … and that he or she wants to ace those tests. I dig kids who dig challenges. I had kids just like that. They made me proud. Still do.

But there are longer-lasting life lessons in refusing these tests. Lessons of much more value.

First, your child learns to champion others … even if it dims some of their own spotlight.

Second, your child learns to take the “first step”. That’s how leadership is learned. And how leaders are made.

Third, your child will gain an understanding of the important process of resisting a wrong … and the uncomfortable feeling it sometimes creates. And how to manage that unease.

And last … and most important … it teaches your child that an injustice is still an injustice even when it never touches them. And that it requires them to act.

Now, tell me … over a lifetime … what lesson will have more permanence in that child’s character?

Shining for a moment on some bubble test? Or standing tall … as a leader … for themselves and for others?

Denis Ian