When parents stop being parents and chose instead to be their child's best friend, someone must step in and teach them right from wrong. Even worse, you now have parents ready to sue schools and teachers at the drop of a hat for the most trivial thing. The reframe, "My little Johnny would never do that," has become the mantra of parents across the U.S. whenever their little precious is called to account for their conduct, no matter how outrageous or disruptive.

Schools and teachers are having to protect themselves, not only from parents who have their lawyers on speed dial, but children who know that no matter what they do or say in school, mommy dearest and daddy will stick up for them.

The result is a generation of teachers and school administrators who no longer make any effort to discipline students or attempt to enforce standards, choosing instead to pass the buck onto the courts and legal system to deal with problems my teachers and parents used to handle.

And for those who say I am out of bounds here, I have only one word; Columbine.

RAMI

This article covers many topics ranging from the problem in the Texas schools discussed ,the situation which occurred last week when a junior high school student pointed a gun albeit a pellet gun at police officers and an incident at the University of Florida.

Regarding the incident at the University of Florida, it was of particular interest to me because my two children went to U.F. and one of them was still there at the time of the incident. The student involved, intentionally acted provocatively, refused police instruction to stop what he was doing and basically acted in a hostile manner when campus police tried to remove him from the building. Whether or not he should’ve been moved is not the question. When he was asked to leave, he didn’t. In fact, there is some evidence that he wanted to be tazed as some stunt. He became famous in blogs and on the web, for yelling as he was taken away, “don’t taze me bro”.A you tube link is below.www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bVa6jn4rpE

After the incident when a junior high school student was killed in Texas there seems to be a mixed opinion as to whether or not the police acted properly. The student according to reports had threatened other students and faculty before the incident. The police were called and tried to calm him down and control them. He refused, pointed the gun and was then shot. The gun in question, looked like a real pistol and did not have any indicators that it was less than a real weapon. So-called police experts, have come down on both sides of the issue, with most stating, that as soon as he pointed the weapon, the police were free to shoot back. Could he have been tazed or nonlethal bullets used is open to question. Those who say just that the police could have shot him in the leg or arm or any other place nonlethal have watched too much TV.

As to the main issue. My experience in Florida is different than that described in Texas. My wife is an elementary school teacher, and while there is a police resource officer who visits the school regularly, and is on call for emergencies, he is not stationed there on a full-time basis and I believe only has the authority to act in extreme cases.

Most high schools do have full-time police officers from the local police department assigned to the school. They there to handle severe problems and not those discussed in the article.

The problems leading to the situation as discussed in the article is twofold.

The first is the no tolerance policy. The policy punishes typical juvenile activity and activity that is non-threatening. A girl carrying or taking aspirin or some other equivalent for her menstrual cramps is treated as if she was carrying cocaine or heroin. A a teenage boy, doing what was described when I was in junior high school “as playing footsie”, would be accused of sexual harassment. Someone with a pair of nail clippers could be accused of carrying weapon. These policies which are designed to combat true problems that might exist in the school have gotten out of hand. In reflecting on my own conduct, I am sure that at some time or someplace I would have run afoul of the rules and been punished. Instead of being asked to speak with the teacher after class, and she explained that my conduct was not proper for young gentleman, and suffering just a brief moment of embarrassment, I would have been subject to sexual harassment charges. .

The second reason is the lack of decorum and proper manners in the classroom. Conduct that was rare in your typical classroom when I was in school (graduated H.S> in 1969) is commonplace now. Punishment by being sent down to the principal and having your parents called, today means nothing. The principal would likely be cursed or threatened by the student, and the parents if they responded at all would take the child’s side and perhaps hire a lawyer to sue the school. At times it appears that the lunatics are running the asylum, thus requiring that certain problems that should be handled differently are turned over to the police.

All that being said, it does appear that the schools described in the article are beyond the norm in my part of the country. I have contacted my brother who is a member of the school board in another area of Texas to get his input. Once I hear back from them. I will let you know what he says.

RAMI

Amazingly, the rise in bad behavior and outright criminal activity by school-age kids pretty much parallels the rise of "progressive" child raising started by Dr. Benjamin Spock in the Sixties and expanded on by the people who followed. If I got in serious trouble in school I might even have gotten swats as a disciplinary measure. My parents were informed and I would be lucky not to get a spanking at home. The mere threat was enough to keep most of us inline. Nowadays swats are considered "child abuse" and parents would immediately file a lawsuit rather than address the child's behavior.

There is a flat-out refusal of people to take responsibility for their behavior. Parents expect schools to control their kids' behavior while at the same time refusing to allow them the tools necessary. Then the lawmakers get involved, passing stupid laws that just make the situation worse. Throw in the political parties: one wants to put all juvenile offenders in prison and throw away the keys; the other wants to pat them on the head, tell them they aren't responsible for their behavior send them away. Makes me want to vote "No" in the next election.

What we've done here in the U.S. is throw away a system of child-raising that worked pretty well for 150 years and eplaced it with a system that has given us Columbine, street gangs, and Virginia Tech. I think its way past time to throw out all the bleeding-hearts and go back to a proven method, one that teaches personal responsibility and citizenship. Yes, there were flaws but the system that gave us the "Greatest Generation" must have been doing something right.

Karen J.

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I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. - Winston Churchill