To be inducted into an honor society, I believe that acceptance requirements should be much more challenging to ensure that each student is worthy of the honor society prestige.
Honor societies are a way for students to expand their knowledge and show off their excellence. Individuals join honor societies based on their passions and interests. This can show colleges how determined and driven a student is within a specific subject. With acceptance into an honor society, members are required to complete service hours pertaining to the society, furthering their experience with their passions.
Academically driven students have strong desires to be involved in honor societies as a means to have their success and hard work recognized. However, acceptance into these prestigious groups have recently lost their rigor resulting in a less determined group of inductees.
When the expectations for members are lowered, it is easier to join the group. Also, more students are eligible for the group, causing a large amount of students who are not academically driven to participate in nationally recognized honor societies.
Now, honor societies are relaxed and not strenuous enough, thus, the members do not work as diligently. Due to the lack of motivation within an honor society, sponsors are being forced to lower member expectations. Overall, honor society are losing their prestige.
I believe that low quality students should not be able to get into honor societies. Inductees should achieve high grades and work hard for acceptance. This will have a positive effect on the honor society, creating a strong elite group. The academic level of each student accepted into an honor society will encourage their peers to raise themselves and their academic dedication, benefitting the school rating. Joining an honor society benefits both the individual and their school.
In the end, if the requirements to join honor societies are raised, everything else will come up with it.