In the essay In Praise Of The F Word, what was Sherry comparing?

Mary Sherry in her essay "In Praise Of The F Word," compares the results in students those who fear flunking and those who don't.

Explanation:

Mary Sherry teaches in adult-literacy programs. She has written essays on educational problems for newspapers. In 1991, she wrote an essay which was published in Newsweek, talking about - that the threat of flunking is a "positive teaching tool." According to her having a "healthy fear of failure" is important in children.

In her essay "In Praise Of The F Word" she compares how a child with the fear of flunking studies and excels than the one who is not. She shares one instance that happened with her son in high-school. Her son's teacher warns her that if her son continues to sit and talk in the class she would flunk him. She understands the importance of fear of flunking and told her son that his teacher had told to flunk him if he don't study. From that day English became a priority in her son's life and he finished his semester with an A. She says in her essay that most student gets a degree without even knowing how they got it. She continues that for such students we excuse their dishonest behavior by saying that they can't learn if they come from a terrible environment. She says, "No one seems to stop to think that - no matter what environments they come from - most kids don't put school first on their list unless they perceive something is at stake. They would rather be sailing." If students will not have a haelthy fear of failure then they will not take their studies as priorities and this will be a kind of cheating on themselves and the employers who will be hiring them.