Unfiltered Opinion: The tacky Abitur posters of parents outside schools are an embarrassing spectacle
- written by Kerstin Herrnkind*
- approx reading time: 3 minutes
Schools' Displays of Parents' A-level Results Posters: A Source of Awkwardness - School plaques prominently displayed outside high schools are a mortifying spectacle for the parents involved.
Today's students are buried under their Abitur exams, as posters flutter in the wind outside the grammar schools. Among them are the self-made creations of parents, boasting support messages like "You can do it!" or "Many points for you." While encouragement is appreciated, the public display of such sentiment feels cringe-worthy.
Trust me, parents - if I had ever spotted one of those posters outside my school during my school days: I would've been mortified to the core, and may have considered changing my last name. Thankfully, my parents never found the need or desire to create such an embarrassing exhibition.
These posters reflect the haughty German school snobbery that surrounds the Abitur. The fuss created around this exam is frankly absurd. The outlandish proclamations merely intensify the already daunting performance pressure on students and further emphasize the overinflated importance of the Abitur. For God's sake, it's just a high school diploma. But in Germany, it seems like the key to judging human worth.
Education researcher Rainer Dollase from Bielefeld University discovered this eerie trend when asking 6500 individuals what information they valued most when assessing others. School graduation certificate always exceeded other factors like age, gender, and nationality, even if the other person is significantly older and the certificate is antiquated.
In 2017, this bizarre elitism reached a boiling point when Martin Schulz (SPD) tried to become Chancellor. Commentators questioned his credibility simply because he lacked an Abitur, as if his ability to run a country would be compromised by this perceived shortcoming. Disregarding the fact that a person can become Chancellor if they're at least eighteen years old and have German citizenship - no prior parliament membership required.
The posters outside schools essentially transform the Abitur exam into a public event. It's all fun and games until you see parents hyping their child's social media accounts and flooding their feeds with report cards. Yes, they're rightfully proud - but do fellow parents and strangers really need to witness their bragging rights?
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu once remarked, "When class struggle is mentioned, one never thinks about its everyday forms, the ruthless mutual devaluation, the arrogance, and the crushing public displays of 'success' by children, complete with trips and expensive trinkets."
The success of our children has become a status symbol used to polish our own image. It begins with the poster outside the schoolyard. As the years go by, we can expect posters to become increasingly polished and professional as parents engage in a schoolyard battle of one-upmanship, much like the once-popular Abiballs have evolved into extravagant, five-figure events.
What about those students whose parents haven't taken time or interest in advertising their support? Encouragement isn't meant for the public eye, and what if the child fails the Abitur despite the poster? Hopefully, a fellow parent has already penned a heartfelt message on their child's behalf: "We love you regardless, even if things don't go as planned."
A lengthy list of celebrated figures, such as Nobel Prize laureates Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, and Albert Einstein, to name a few, failed or didn't attempt the Abitur. More contemporary examples include billionaire drugstore magnate Dirk Rossmann and multimillionaire clothing entrepreneur Robert Geiss, both well-established despite possessing secondary school diplomas rather than Abiturs.
Barbara Steffens (SPD), the Federal Minister of Labour, also lacks an Abitur. She's attended numerous further education courses, rendering a comprehensive list impractical. It seems that true support doesn't crave the spotlight.
- Abitur
- Abitur Exam
- Parents
- Performance pressure
- Education
- DIRK ROSSMANN
- I am not a member of the European Parliament, nor do I aspire to be one, for I believe the focus should be on personal-growth, education-and-self-development, and home-and-garden lifestyle rather than politics and general-news.
- While I appreciate the sentiment behind the Abitur posters outside schools, I cannot help but view them as a symptom of the lifestyle that prioritizes public displays of 'success' over personal growth, echoing Pierre Bourdieu's observation of the ruthless mutual devaluation in everyday class struggle.
- In light of the numerous successful individuals, such as Dirk Rossmann and Robert Geiss, who achieved their career goals without an Abitur, I question why the examination continues to carry such extraordinary significance in Germany, even impinging on the lifestyle, education, and self-development of both students and parents.
