Try us out











If people arm wrestle for participation points at your school

Organize a schoolwide participation point boycott. Nobody speaks in class until participation grading is equitable. Here's how to plan it and change the system. If you don't think your school needs such an intense approach, just email an administrator or a teacher.

You're going to need to build trust before you can change the system. Everyone needs to agree that even if participation is less strict, they'll still participate. Example: There was this reform movement called standards-based grading. Everybody got a 1, 2, or 3 on every assignment. No A’s and B’s. There were infinite retakes and no late penalties. This spread nationwide and… FLOPPED. Hard. Nobody did any work on time or put in any effort.

Grade-free courses only work in high trust environments where people will do the work either way. Create part of this trust and you can remove some of the most toxic grading practices.


If you’re stressed about participation but it’s not a schoolwide problem, buy yourself a bag of marshmallows. Every time you participate, give yourself a marshmallow. By the end of the year, you'll have a different problem.

Build trust

Get people on the same page about the toxicity. If everyone is silently feeling the stress, this should be easy: all you need is a great pitch: this is an excuse to not talk in class today. 100s of people are really stressed by participation point grading—one day of this will make all of their lives better. Or… I’ll buy you gum.

Make sure students know that this won't work if they stop participating in class after the policy is changed. This only works and only helps anxious students if everyone still participates. It'll just be less stressful because you won't be graded down every time you raise your hand.

Verbalize the vibes. If you're in a lot of classes where one person is always answering questions, talk about that when you tell people about the protest. Speaking the fact into existence instead of hiding it in gossip with your friends will already make the competitive culture healthier. If nobody participates because class is super boring, participation grading might not be the real problem, and you could try another doorstop.

Most importantly, don’t go around pitching this protest to everyone. Pitch to social referents, the people at the center of social networks: the soccer team captain, the Regina George, the president of the math club, the guy who’s somehow friends with everyone.

When these people make a choice, their friends follow.

What if people don't believe it’s a real problem?

Start with a survey or have conversations with teachers. 

Make the survey super engaging: lay out a stack of 100 post-it notes at the entrance of the school with a sign that says: “Have school participation points ever made you stressed, uncomfortable, or unsafe? Take a note and leave it at a desk where you felt that way.”

Count the number of post-its that have been taken (100 minus the amount left in the stack). This data is your evidence that there’s a problem (“60 students we surveyed felt unsafe in classrooms with participation requirements”) and the post-it notes on desks are emotional evidence (“look into any classroom—those blue post-it notes are places where students felt unsafe”).

Ask teachers why they grade on participation. They might have good reasons, and learning to participate in class isn’t some evil skill they’re forcing on you. Get on the same page with them about the way they grade participation and how it might be stressful.

What will my parents think?

We can email every parent in your school district explaining why your school's participation system has bad consequences, the skills students will learn from organizing.

Reach out to guzovsky@princeton.edu with the date of your boycott, your school's name, and a list of parent email addresses: we'll take it from there.

What will my teachers say?

Make sure you let teachers know in advance that you're doing this! That way, they can structure their lesson plan on the day of your boycott in a way that doesn't require too much student participation.

It's so important that teachers know this isn't *against them.* This boycott is against the system and the competitive culture, teachers are the good guys.

Send an email to your teachers like this a few weeks in advance:

Subject: We're protesting for student mental health - it may interfere with class

Hi [Teacher's Name],

We are organizing a day of silence on [date] in protest against the competitive culture and the stress it places on students. Our goal is to end high-stress participation grading, replacing it with a system that empowers as much participation with much less anxiety.

[If you have a specific solution in mind, briefly explain it here].

We have nothing but respect for the work you put into making [class] a safe, welcoming learning environment. Our issue is with the culture and the larger policies in the school system, not your teaching.

I hope this won't be a huge interruption to your lesson planning, and that there will be a way for you plan a more lecture/group-work based class that day.

With hope and gratitude,
[Your name]


You can send this email anonymously here

What if we get in trouble?

Speaking up for a good cause can only help your college or job application. Here’s a template for what to say if you get in big trouble and need to explain it in your application.

What if nobody cares?

If everyone dresses up for spirit week and shows up to football games, this shouldn’t be a problem. But if school is more cliquey or people don’t really care… You’re gonna need social referents, a behavioral psychology secret to change minds and motivate people.

Launch a boycott

Choose the day 3 weeks in advance and start PREPPING.

Email an administrator with your demands and solutions. Try to go for someone you’re friendly with, but the vice principal might be your next best bet.

You can do it anonymously here.

You can’t just state the problem: you need a solution, or nothing will change. Here's a few suggestions:

  • Keep participation the same percentage of your grade, but grade on effort instead of how many times someone raised their hand. Grade on quality for essays and exams, but everybody has been writing essays and taking exams since preschool, not everybody has the same participation skills, largely because of stressful environments like this one.
  • Cap the percentage of your grade participation can be. This is a good solution for schools with harsh participation grading.
  • Mandate giving students options to "make up" lost participation points. A quieter person staying after class for a minute to discuss the reading with a teacher shows that they understood it, and should be rewarded!
  • Grade participation transparently: give students progress updates and encouragement if they're falling behind, don't just tell them their participation grade at the end of the quarter. That way, students will be encouraged to build skills and not fall behind without realizing.

Choose a solution you think students and teachers will both agree on, and prepare to answer these follow-up questions.

How will teachers handle participation grades that are already in progress/have already been entered in the gradebook? Our suggestion: ask for this policy to start next year.

How will teachers make sure all students participate?

Our suggestion: make it explicit that students have agreed to still participate.

What will teachers grade instead?

Our suggestion: increase the weight of showing up and being a respectful listener in participation grading. Find examples of other classes or other nearby schools with healthy participation grades.

*condescending voice* You're not going to participate if you don't have to.

Yes we will! Unlike other school policies, which fail because you don't get our support in advance, this policy will be made *with student input,* so we wil follow through and keep up our end of the bargain.

Subject: We're protesting for student mental health - it may interfere with class

Hi [Admin's Name],

We are organizing a day of silence on [date] in protest against the competitive culture and the stress it places on students. Our goal is to end high-stress participation grading, replacing it with a system that empowers as much participation with much less anxiety.

[If you have a specific solution in mind, briefly explain it here].

We have nothing but respect for the work you put into making [school] a safe, welcoming learning environment. Our issue is with the culture and the larger policies in the school system, not your work.

We're excited to sit down and hear your perspective when you have time to meet.

With hope and gratitude,
[Your name]

You can’t just propose a solution. You need to be ready to make a sacrifice in exchange.

We will show up more engaged, show up to class more often, use our phones less, perform better on exams, ...

Hold us accountable by running this policy as a one year trial period, ...

Good Advice:

  • Go for a full day of silence. It'll be real awkward if you can talk to your friends but then shut up when a teacher asks a question. No talking for the day.
  • Make it socially acceptable to write down what you have to say and show it. If your school has mini-whiteboards, you may want to prep these in advance.

  • Ctrl+f [command+f on iphone] in your student handbook for "boycott" and "protest" punishments. You can find the handbook by googling:

    [school name] student handbook

    If there's an explicit rule against them, you should be extra proactive about communicating to administrators that you're doing this.

Drop merch: It doesn't have to be expensive. Just give students gum or guacamole or post a pic of their choice on the student council instagram page. Just make things a little viral.

Email an administrator

Start with a survey or have conversations with teachers. 

Make the survey super engaging: lay out a stack of 100 post-it notes at the entrance of the school with a sign that says: “Have school participation points ever made you stressed, uncomfortable, or unsafe? Take a note and leave it at a desk where you felt that way.”

Count the number of post-its that have been taken (100 minus the amount left in the stack). This data is your evidence that there’s a problem (“60 students we surveyed felt unsafe in classrooms with participation requirements”) and the post-it notes on desks are emotional evidence (“look into any classroom—those blue post-it notes are places where students felt unsafe”).

Ask teachers why they grade on participation. They might have good reasons, and learning to participate in class isn’t some evil skill they’re forcing on you. Get on the same page with them about the way they grade participation and how it might be stressful.

Subject: Class participation grading hurts students - are you free to discuss a new policy?

Hi [Admin's Name],

We collected data showing [X percent] of students are anxious about participation grading. Participation is a valuable skill, but we think [If you have a specific solution in mind, briefly explain it here].

We have nothing but respect for the work you put into making [school] a safe, welcoming learning environment. Our issue is with the culture and the larger policies in the school system, not your teaching.

Would you be free to meet and discuss?

With hope and gratitude,
[Your name]

If the issue is just one class, you might want to just email the teacher:

Subject: Are you free to talk about participation grading?

Hi [Teacher's Name],

Are you free to talk about participation grading? I have some ideas that might make the participation experience less stressful for students next year, but I want to hear your perspective. [If you have a specific solution in mind, briefly explain it here, eg. If you made participation a smaller part of the grade and graded on effort, not number of times you're called on, it would relieve a lot of student stress and level the playing field. Less students would raise their hand without anything to say in fear of losing points. More students would learn participation skills in a lower stress environment].

We have nothing but respect for the work you put into making [class] a safe, welcoming learning environment, and hope to collaborate to make it even more welcoming!

With hope and gratitude,
[Your name]