''You have done your best and that's all that matters''

CB19Kevo

With JC results out tomorrow i see loads of these statuses on social media,Same occurs around leaving cert time.
Bit of a generalization to say you have done your best,when it would be a safe bet that many have not done there best.

I just find the whole statement has a right whiff of BS and PC off it, Anyone have any other generic one liners that grind there gears that appear on social media.

Karangue

Their best is their best.

wakka12

I guess nothing can be done now as the tests are over. So probably better to convince yourself you did your best instead of focusing on the regret of not studying hard

Hammer89

I think it's just one of those phrases people say without thinking, like when people say, 'Let me know if there's anything I can do' when a loved one dies. Who are you again? My second cousin's mate? There's nothing you can do but thanks for the very genuine offer.

1. The JC results don't matter.

2. A sufficient number of those students will feel down and will give themselves a sufficiently hard time that the adults in any room, being adults and therefore aware of the precariousness of life, will instinctively seek to be protective of that young life. That, and not some exam result, is the bigger picture here, and if you're an adult it shouldn't have to be spelt out.

wonderfullife

Dublin County Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty said: "It's quite clear that she was an intelligent and caring young girl, who, for some reason, came to believe her life depended on her results."

That's what was said after Manik Murphy threw herself in front of a train in 2007 after getting 4 A's and 6 B's instead of the 6 A's she wanted. The case was more complex than just the bare results of her Junior Cert but nonetheless it was a vital part of her reasoning.

I'd much prefer to see nauseating facebook statuses reminding people the JC/LC is literally not the be-all, end-all than to see more sickening tragedies resulting in statements from a county Coroner about how lovely the person WAS.

We've the highest suicide rate in Europe among young people. If garbage facebook statuses help reduce that by even 0.1% I'll take it.

By the way if anyone reading this is getting their JC results - good luck and honestly it will mean absolutely nothing long-term whether you did your best or not.

Irish Guitarist

"If you can't handle me at my worst you don't deserve me at my best"

Translation: I'm an airhead like just like Marilyn Monroe, who I've just misquoted, and I'm a bitch. If you don't like it that makes you a cunt and I'll dump you. Your loss because I might possibly have been nice to you or let you touch my boobies at some point in the future.

Irish Guitarist

I don't necessarily agree that anyone should be worried about their junior cert results by the way.

_Whimsical_

They are kids at the end of the day. They've been listening to teachers and parents telling them this is the most important thing they've ever done. Better they're comforted by a few half baked platitudes tonight rather than be way overly stressed. You've already got kids with depression out there, not everyone can handle failure of disappointment at that age.

Your Face

Why is the OP stalking Junior Certs?

RobbieTheRobber

CB19Kevo wrote: »

With JC results out tomorrow i see loads of these statuses on social media,Same occurs around leaving cert time.
Bit of a generalization to say you have done your best,when it would be a safe bet that many have not done there best.

I just find the whole statement has a right whiff of BS and PC off it, Anyone have any other generic one liners that grind there gears that appear on social media.

Seems like its an acceptable usage of "best" to me.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/best

11. the best effort that a person, group, or thing can make:
Their best fell far short of excellence.

Permabear

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Telling someone who is not happy with their results that they did their best and that is all that matters is trite and a useless platitude it matters to them how they did. Better off to start the conversation with I know you are a little disappointed and see how the conversation developed.

Permabear

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Kermit.de.frog

Isn't it time that we just told people they are going to fail in life?

AllGunsBlazing

I breezed the old school Inter cert and went on a massive piss up with a smuggled bottle of vodka at the teenage disco that night.

Good times.

Permabear

Permabear wrote: »

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Also teenagers are not stupid my sister who is a teacher says the teenagers knows exactly where they stand both socially and academically.

They know parents and teachers have to be supportive so they often don't believe them.

When one of mine was teenager she had a job in a restaurant and what make all the difference to her was being made supervisor because as she said its his business he has to make money he would not have promoted her unless she was good at the job. That was real tangible evidence that she was good at something.

Akrasia

CB19Kevo wrote: »

With JC results out tomorrow i see loads of these statuses on social media,Same occurs around leaving cert time.
Bit of a generalization to say you have done your best,when it would be a safe bet that many have not done there best.

I just find the whole statement has a right whiff of BS and PC off it, Anyone have any other generic one liners that grind there gears that appear on social media.

Parents and mentors of young people in any field should always encourage effort over results.

If someone has a challenging home environment, or learning difficulties and gets all Ds in their Junior cert, that is a way better result if they worked hard for those Ds than if someone cruises through the year and gets Cs and Bs because they're naturally better at remembering facts and dates.

The world will reward hard work more than intelligence.

If someone does the minimum amount of work, barely doing enough to scrape by, and they get disappointing results in their exams they'll know themselves that they let themselves down, they won't need to be told by anyone, but they can be inspired to achieve more in the next exam.

By the time a kid gets to his/her Junior cert, he/she has already been shaped by at least 11 years of formal education, and if that kid hasn't been encouraged by his family friends and teachers all the way along the way, then he/she will find it extremely hard to rise up to the challenge of the state exams.

Unfortunately, lots of kids are already falling behind by mid way through primary school. If you're behind, it takes twice as much work to catch up, and if you're already at the required level, you can cruise through with minimal effort.

This is why effort should be encouraged not results. 'Good students' can do better and so can struggling students. No matter where you are in life, if you work hard, you can self improve. If you give up, you'll start to decline. People often need to be inspired and encouraged to improve themselves. That should be a central role for the educators and parents in their lives.

Permabear

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Rhyme

CB19Kevo wrote: »

''If You have done your best, and that's all that matters''

Fixed that quote there.

freshpopcorn

Permabear wrote: »

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Lot's of people are already in 5th year and are in higher/ordinary subject classes that have splits such as maths/English/Irish already. It is very hard for the school to force a student to drop down from higher to ordinary level. I even know people who went up between the junior cert and leaving cert.

chrissb8

Permabear wrote: »

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No it doesn't. You can move up and do higher level exams in the Leaving if you show you have an aptitude for a subject beyond the ordinary level curriculum. I did it and loads of other people I know did it. The J.C means absolutely nothing in terms of long term affecting what you can and can't do.

That said I do agree it's important to put some stress on the J.C. But not to the point by saying this will have big ramifications on your life. Christ. These kids are 14, 15 going through a lot of changes and insecurity they just need to get through that first. Not parents making out the J.C is something that is the most important thing ever until literally the next day after results no one talks about it.

Billy86

I got dragged through the mud by the parents and teachers alike for having poor junior cert results, was told I didn't put in enough effort despite putting in tonnes of hours for it and having after forced/organised school study until 9pm four nights a week, and more again on a Saturday. In an argument my parents also told me it was only making matters worse in the divorce they had been going through, and wouldn't for a moment believe I just could not remember what was in the books. As a result of this I became highly depressed, went through quite an extensive amount of suicidal ideation, more or less completely cut myself off from my friends for quite a while, rarely left my room, and went from being outgoing and confident to feeling like a failure and afraid to engage most people in conversation.

Some seem to be fine with that approach, you know, a good dose of reality and "tellin' it like it is" to those stupid, lazy teenager who is letting the family down, to prove a point and stop them making excuses for their clear lack of effort, because that is what it must be.




A few months later I was diagnosed with a fairly strong learning disability.

DEFTLEFTHAND

The JC means diddly squat anyway, just a preparation for the LC.

There's no point worrying about something which will never ever be brought up again after tomorrow. The results will have no bearing on any aspect of a student's future.

Billy86

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

The JC means diddly squat anyway, just a preparation for the LC.

There's no point worrying about something which will never ever be brought up again after tomorrow. The results will have no bearing on any aspect of a student's future.

This is pretty much it, I think the LC is an awful setup in terms of pressure (and flaws, someone who did nothing in school for six years can find a way to cheat and get 500+ points) but at the same time if it is there at least the JC can help make it slightly less intimidating by the fact that students will have sat a series of state exams before and are already familiar with it. It's also why putting huge pressure on kids for the JC results is in my opinion a terrible thing to do.

osarusan

After reading this thread, there was a study I was looking for, but couldn't find. It was about the impact that certain kinds of positive feedback had on future efforts of learners.

I am struggling to recall even the basics of it just from memory, but if I have it right, it was that learners respond better to praise about their effort than praise about their output/result.

To put it very simply, telling them that they should be happy that they worked really hard is more effective than telling them they should be happy that they did a good job, in terms of how they will perform in the future.

ToddyDoody

The results are there so the leaving cert can be taylored to the student's ability ... to make that exam as rewarding as possible.

But we're over competitive and too concerned with status so yes the whole thing is a bit crappy unless you're the 20% who excel without too much effort.