Mandatory Participation

I went home last night and just slept because I was extremely tired. I work up early this morning because I wanted to get some work done before my speech meeting. The meeting was fun as it always was but a certain topic came up during it.

The topic was over the validity of participation points in college courses. I used to think that it was a good thing to make participation apart of the grade but the older I get, the more I dislike it.

Granted, participation is a necessity in any democracy to maintain social order and improve the quality of life but should it be made mandatory in a college classroom that is anything but a democracy?

I think it's important to participate in discussion but if you really have nothing to say then why lose points for it?

The phrase, "Those who talk the most and loudest out of everyone, often times have very little to say," keeps ringing in my ears anymore.

Of course, others might say that it is important to voice our opinions. Now don't get me wrong, I agree with those people but I think we often times forget to listen to others after voicing our concerns to others.

Many people might be familiar with this situation. You have a conversation with someone that lasts for at least 15 minutes in which you do a great job of listening and being a good friend.

The only problem is that by the time you get to the end of this conversation, you are so mentally drained that you have forgotten about any of the problems happening in your life.

The person that you have been conversing with usually asks after a long pause, "So, how are things going in your life?" and the only response that you can muster at that point in time is, "Oh, nothing much."

No one means for that to happen I'm sure. I just think it is one of those things in life that happens for no apparent reason.

So, I guess that participation is important but only in small doses. Also, I think it's important to never forget about the listener when we discuss the seemingly big but actual small problems that occur in life.

Remember, as James Carville once said, "God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason." Use them accordingly.