The article I am responding to is by John Rosemond, "Don't Blame School Shootings on Lax Gun Control". Duluth News-Tribune, May 2, 1999.

I Agree with John Rosemond in that thanks to the American Civil Liberties Union and other like minded organizations public schools have been reduced to dealing with anti-social children by counseling them. Unlike private or church-run schools who can expel students who do not meet their "standards" public schools must follow procedures and red tape to make sure that any discipline techniques used do not damage the students self-esteem. This has helped turn public schools into virtual "no punishment zones" where students learn that their misbehavior will be addressed by being "talked to". Now with many students this technique will work. However there have to be other measures and resources to use with the repeat offenders. As Johns Rosemond states, "we have yet to find a better way of dealing with misbehavior than to punish it".

-- Anonymous, May 12, 1999

Answers

Hi Chet, I have long been a fan of John Rosemond , and usually agree with his common sense approach to things . This article is no exception. I feel that as schools , we have been forced to become tolerant of misbehavior out of fear of lawsuits. Some parents do not want to think that their child could ever do anything wrong. They always find a "reason" for the way their child behaves. I think that all children , my own darlings included, will make mistakes simply because they are children. When they use poor judgement and make bad choices, I want them to know that they are responsible for their actions and that sometimes poor choices result in punishment/disciplinary actions. Self -esteem will come from learning to be responsible , not from getting off the hook. Thanks for your thoughts, Kris

-- Anonymous, May 14, 1999

Hi Chet - Good commentary. I am a fan of John Rosemond also and read his column regularly. Besides obvious discipline problems, one thing I have heard from high school students is that I am causing them to fail/incomplete an assignment because they want me to "assist" them with their work. The only response I give them is, "you fail because you choose to fail". For some reason, that is surprisingly effective.

It is probably effective because their academic failing is put back to them as individuals. Instead of counseling, the approach needed for discipline problems is to have students take ownership of their behavior instead of finding ways to justify it. Just a thought!

-- Anonymous, May 17, 1999

Chet, your responses to John Rosemonds May 5th newspaper column was right on the mark.As a first grade teacher, I have dealt with those few students who repeatedly interfere with the education of the majority. There should be a clear no tolerance for repeated misbehavior and a clear plan to deal with those children. Over my twenty-five years of teaching, my building has addressed this issue every year. Maybe behavior tutoring or a mentor ship type program could be started to address the needs of these target students. At the moment, we are like marshmallow when it comes to carrying our consequences or discipline plans because parents want to defend their childs misbehavior in the name of self esteem. It is also clear to me that parents need to realize that allowing students to get away with repeated misbehavior does not and will not ever improve a childs self esteem. Thanks for sharing this timely article. Linda

-- Anonymous, May 22, 1999