Agreed that this is some messed up advice. I have seen similar advice on CC on other subjects too (i.e. if you can’t get an A in a particular class, don’t take the class). This does not bode well for mathematics education in particular, which I find is too stratified in the US. All high schoolers are required to reach basic calculus by 11th grade in my home country in Europe. Do they all get As? Definitely not but they gain broader analytical thinking skills. The “mathy” kids, such as myself, also were required to take Ancient Greek or Latin, as well as other humanities-related subjects, which I did not love as a teenager but have come to appreciate as I got older. Lowering the common standards in math that all students need to reach allows both teachers and students (particularly in the younger grades) to treat mathematical thinking as a nuisance that one needs to get through. Not everyone needs to go into STEM but everyone needs basic mathematical skills. I recently taught a friend of mine who is a lawyer how to set up and solve basic equations that he needed for work. He told me that he was never a math guy, yet picked up the skills I taught him super quickly and figured out a way to solve a system of equations with two unknowns by himself. I’d say he is a “mathy” guy.
I digress… but I find that the race to create college admissions superstars leaves many educational and basic human needs unfulfilled. The arts are a basic human need. I marvel at all the classically trained young musicians that will always have music to sooth their souls.