Yeah I disagree with this entirely.
I did very poorly in school growing up. I think I failed at least 4-6 classes in middle/high school.
In college I did well and I'm now getting my masters in CS while working as a software engineer.
So, the 'stick' can certainly be useful. Doing poorly in high school is not necessarily an indicator of how you will do in college -- particularly if your life at home was turbulent as it was for me.
You missed the point. Some level of "stick" is appropriate and often necessary for children in middle/high school. But this article is about adults in college. If you get to college and still need the stick then it's probably not the right place for you.