Dear editor:
As parents we must do better at discipline our children at home. Folks, you are doing your children a disservice and crippling them if you don’t teach them right from wrong at home.
No child should ever disrespect, cuss out, or hit a teacher; it doesn’t matter if the child is upset or if they disagree with the teacher. Our youth needs to know when an educator or adult tells them to do something (assignment, put iPad away, line up or whatever) it’s not a debate it’s a direction.
The Liberty County School System is losing a lot of great educators and parents. It has nothing to do with the Board of Education; it has everything to do with students’ behavior. It is not a teacher’s job to raise kids at school or teach common courtesy or manners and it’s not fair to our teachers or students in the classroom who are doing the right thing and who came to school to get an education.
I personally know many of these educators are opting to leave or retire earlier than planned. And I’m sorry if you disagree, but the price our ancestors paid and fought for us to have the right to get an education is too important to sit back in silence and watch our students who are trying to learn, are unable to because of classroom behaviors and interruptions of students who haven’t been told the word “no” before or obviously never had any consequences.
Teachers and administrators can only do so much. Parents, it’s time to correct your kids, period, and at home and step up and help. Stop making excuses for children’s bad behaviors; admit it and fix it! Because it’s not too late to start helping both your child and their teachers by correcting and punishing them at home. I don’t care how old or what grade they’re in, it’s not too late. If they quit school or are in jail – that’s when it is too late, so don’t give up on them!
We must bring back corporal punishment and consequences, or sadly these behaviors and students falling behind academically will only continue and get worse. I’m looking for good solutions to help combat this issue.
Parents and grandparents can choose to disagree, but something has to be done.
Wendy Underwood
Hinesville