Athens Review, Athens, Texas

Opinion

September 25, 2009

MAIL CALL: Tyler incident should teach us something about education

Dear Local, State, and National Public School Administrators:

With the recent events that occurred in Tyler on Wednesday, Sept. 23, I been wondering exactly how far it has to get, or how close to home, before something is done to protect our school teachers.

I am not sure exactly how this happened, or what could have been done to prevent this, but I do know that something needs to be done to prevent an event like this from happening again, anywhere.

I do not know why this student decided to do this, but I believe that this could of possibly have been prevented if our public schools had what we used to call discipline in them.

Often all administrators’ focus on is the TAKS test, local school bonds, or what is best for the students.

Without teachers, you have no school. Administrators, your district is not made up of good students without great teachers. Teachers’ hands are tied when it comes to discipline.

I went to college to become a teacher, and did my student teaching in public schools, and I know that the kids are not scared.

Many administrators say that it is not right to paddle a child, or fear a possible lawsuit. Well, what we have created is a public school system full of students who do not respect, nor fear a teacher.

I graduated from Athens High School in the 1990s when children still received spankings for bad behavior. I got in my share of trouble in school, but I knew when enough was enough.

And if I pushed it to far, I received “licks,” and I did a few times.

I am a public firefighter, and often hear people say thank you for putting your life on the line.

Well I say – Teachers, Thanks You! You should not have to fear this. If this had happened in my line of work, there would be national investigation, state investigation and local investigation, not to mention large amounts of money spent in research and reenactments, and eventually possible laws or protocols changed to prevent a repeat tragedy.

Public, it is up to us to make sure that your district makes school discipline the top priority. If you see that it is not getting done, then it is up to us to vote out the current school board member, as well as our local, state and national representatives.

People say that spanking a child will not help, that it will hurt the child in the future. Well I think they are wrong.

I say if a kid acts up, discipline them. If that means spankings, then spank. If that means sending them home for a week, then send them home.

But I know that a child will never be sent home because it seems that all we are concerned with is the tax dollar that we receive for that student’s attendance.

Yes, my son was acting up in kindergarten, and he received a spanking, and guess what? The problem was corrected.

We need to protect our teachers because they have more of an influence on our future than anything else. Administrators and elected officials – you better take care of your teachers, because without them, you are not needed.

Did anyone know that this tragedy also occurred on the same day that thousands of students across the nation gathered around the school flagpole to pray for their school, teachers, administrators and students? That is something that is also missing from our schools.

Chris House

Athens

Text Only
Opinion
  • Jeff's mug.JPG Animals are so like people, and can be used to teach us

    Yesterday, I wrote on the editorial page of the Athens Daily Review about how people become contaminated mentally, and especially, emotionally.
    I wrote about a murder I witnessed on a drive-in restaurant parking lot in Houston back in the 1970s.

    May 25, 2012 1 Photo

  • Jeff's mug.JPG We need to set our kid’s world straight – before they grow up

    I once wrote a column for the Athens Daily Review, in which I stated that I am fascinated by people that carry out horrible acts.
    I still hold that fascination.  It is just so incredibly difficult to understand how someone can do something horrible to another, that ends the other’s life, or maybe even worse.

    May 25, 2012 1 Photo

  • Kathi Nailling The newspaper career: You either love it, or you hate it

    It occurred to me recently that on or around May 15, I will have been in the newspaper industry for 40 years. Who does that?
    I have seen so many changes in this industry.  The changes just keep on coming.

    May 21, 2012 1 Photo

  • art lawler cutout.jpg One spoken line about alcohol use led to GBC mayor victory

    The residents of Gun Barrel City and their neighbors are now going to drink until 2 a.m. on weekends, if they so choose.
    And they have so chosen with last Saturday's election, which extends drinking hours in some establishments in that community.

    May 18, 2012 1 Photo

  • RICH-USE THIS ONE.JPG May 17, 2007: a day in Henderson County like no other

    Sometimes, the most extraordinary things happen on the most ordinary days. That’s the way it was on May 17, 2007.
    Most of Henderson County was coming to the end of the business day.  The Athens Daily Review Friday edition was just about finished. The stories had been written, and the front page design was taking shape.

    May 17, 2012 1 Photo

  • Svehlak, Lange inside.tif Mothers are the glue that holds it all together

    When God was working on his blueprint of Eve, He created what I feel is the closest thing we have to superheroes here on Earth.
    I bet many mothers wish they could have super powers. The love, strength, patience and self control they show — although many might not classify those traits as super powers — are nothing short of a gift from God.

    May 14, 2012 1 Photo

  • Kathi Nailling It’s the day to celebrate what our mothers mean to us

    I remember my mother's prayers, and they have always followed me.  They have clung to me all my life.  ~Abraham Lincoln

    It's Mother's Day! A day to celebrate what our mothers mean to us.  Mothers make many sacrifices for their children.

    May 14, 2012 1 Photo

  • Rich Flowers.JPG The old time satellite dish was so much fun, they ruined it

    An era came to an end at my house this week. While getting some work done around the yard, we had our old C-band satellite dish removed.

    May 11, 2012 1 Photo

  • art lawler cutout.jpg Things aren’t like they were in the ‘50s with glass bottles

    Seems like only yesterday we were in the early to mid 1950s, and  I was walking barefoot and shirtless with my twin friends Ike and Mike to the Sinclair gas station on the edge of a southwestern Oklahoma village.

    May 10, 2012 1 Photo

  • Kathi Nailling Scam artists have no scruples, protect yourself

    Why people prey on the less fortunate is beyond me.
    Recently, a local Avon Representative called me and said she had a customer who almost fell for a scam.

    May 7, 2012 1 Photo

House Ads
Echoes from the Titanic
AP Video
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium 50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Facebook