Do young Americans better appreciate things when they work for them? In some cases, the data may be scarce; free is increasingly the new costly. Such seems a solid takeaway from a new report.

Intelligent.com conducted a late-August survey concerning students and their marks. The organization questioned 288 high school teachers and college professors. The study's findings point to a peculiar approach to making all A's: insisting upon them. Gen Z students are purported practitioners of "grade grubbing" -- "begging or threatening their instructors for a higher grade than they've actually earned."

Per the report, "Forty-four percent of educators say students often ask for better grades" than they should rightly be awarded.

More than four in 10 educators surveyed say students "somewhat" (26 percent) or "very often" (18 percent) ask them to change their grades to a higher score that they haven’t earned. Additionally, 24 percent say this happens "every so often" and 25 percent say it happens "rarely." Only six percent of respondents say students "never" ask them to improve their grades.

Regarding gratuitous grade upgrades, you may never have considered begging your teachers -- much less ordering them to do your bidding. But these days, students are impressively in charge. Personal feelings are paramount; meritocracy is marginalizing. Modern America is light on punishment and heavy on reward:

Ivy League University Ditches Standardized Testing, Will Judge an Applicant's 'Background' and 'Voice'

School Bans Expensive Coats to Protect Its Poorer Students' Feelings

College Schools Students and Staff on Microaggressions' 'Death by a Thousand Cuts' and the 'Myth of Meritocracy'

A Medical School Dissects Its Honor Society Because Grades May Be Racist

Colorado University Hosts Teacher Training to Fight the 'White Supremacy' of 'Productivity'

Professor Insists Anti-Cheating Rules Aren't Fair to 'Black and Latinx' Students

New York University Students Demand They Be Given the President's House — and Straight A's

So go societal sensibilities. According to Intelligent.com, the evolution is informally observed:

“Anecdotally, there appears to be an increase in the frequency of students trying to negotiate higher grades,” says Professor and Higher Education Advisor, Diane Gayeski.

The revolution is affecting a flock of fields, including ones you might not expect. As pointed out by Professor Diane, your heart doctor may have had his or her grades...doctored:

“While there’s not a lot of research on this yet, in a study of undergraduate students preparing for careers in medicine, ‘over a quarter of the respondents self-reported engaging in grade-focused interactions.'"

Students are standing up for themselves, and contemporary parents are invested in their kids' education. At school, the pressure's on -- the teachers, not the class-takers. Back to Intelligent.com:

Thirty-eight percent (of instructors) have faced harassment from students and thirty-three percent from parents, over grades.

Forty-five percent of those polled believe Gen Z students more frequently ask for better grades than did their predecessors. And what justifications do pupils provide for their demands? Here's a breakdown:

• Trouble in their personal lives (59 percent)
• They were sick (35 percent)
• The class was too difficult (41 percent)
• The grading was unfair (35 percent)

A roundup of write-in reasons:

• A low grade would ruin their average.
• They believe the teacher’s grade was biased.
• Parents will get mad if they know they didn’t do their work.

Perhaps the epidemic's bottom-line explanation is far simpler than any provided by petitioning pupils. Astonishingly, students demanding they receive what they didn't earn regularly works:

Eighty-two percent of educators have given into demands.

As stated in the aforementioned pre-med study, "Of [students asking for better grades], 71 percent were successful in their negotiation for a higher grade."

It's a brand-new world. Gone are America's stern old schoolteachers slinging harshly high expectations like hash in an outdated diner. "Gimme" has begotten gourmet grub. Today's education system is less fierce fist and more huge hug. The arms of academia are open wide. Welcome to class; the coddling coziness of high scores is available upon request -- or, if you perfectly-permissably prefer, demand.

-ALEX

See more content from me:

Inclusion, Harvard Style: DEI Dept. Hosts Back-to-School Bash for Everyone Who Isn't White

Esteemed Education Council Issues Its Recipe for Success: Don't Hire Old White Men to Run Colleges

Pansexuality Is Hot: University Makes Square Students Admit Their 'Monosexual Privilege'

Find all my RedState work here.

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