The recent Free Lance article,
”
Student behavior getting worse
”
reveals what has been a problem with students in many schools,
the lack of respect
– respect for each other, respect for authority and respect to
the treatment of their surroundings.
As an example, there seems to be no litter enforcement as the
school grounds look like a garbage dump., and that alone implies a
lack of pride and discipline.
The recent Free Lance article, “Student behavior getting worse” reveals what has been a problem with students in many schools, the lack of respect – respect for each other, respect for authority and respect to the treatment of their surroundings.
As an example, there seems to be no litter enforcement as the school grounds look like a garbage dump., and that alone implies a lack of pride and discipline.
Ever since corporal punishment was taken out of schools to correct a student’s misbehavior, the respect for rules and authority has all but vanished from the classroom and school grounds. The problems the schools and society as a whole are having with disrespectful children were compounded many times over when government tied the hands of parents to forcefully punish their children. Spare the rod, spoil the child. Before you all get excited, I’m not talking about breaking bones or bruising.
So, cameras have been suggested to help curb violence. But like most government organizations, additional financial burdens arise as more jobs are created to accommodate additional services – cameras for surveillance in this case.
What is needed instead are for teachers and staff to walk the campus and exercise their authority by strictly and promptly punishing those students who abuse the rules.
Student misbehavior and disrespect for rules become a cancer that keeps growing. That cancer (or student) needs to be cut away from the body of school mates to maintain an orderly process of learning.
As reflected in their test scores, students have become a product of their environment, and until the school board rejects the liberal thinking and social engineering at SBHS there is no solution in sight.
On local politics, I congratulate Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz and his advisor/owner of the Vault, Ignacio Velazquez, for dropping their $5 million lawsuit against San Benito County. They said it was contributing to the hostile political climate in the county. However, any window of opportunity that existed to ease tensions was abruptly slammed shut by De La Cruz and Ignacio as they turned around and filed a complaint with the civil grand jury to investigate District Attorney John Sarsfield.
Unlike the good ol’ boy local Bar, the State Bar of California wields real power as an administrative arm of the California Supreme Court. The State Bar has received no credible complaints against Sarsfield and is not conducting any investigation of him, which makes Jamie and Ignacio’s grand jury complaint frivolous and baseless.
Although knowing their heart is in the right place, an editorial in the Free Lance asked the people considering the recall of De La Cruz to drop their effort. However, it absolutely makes no sense for the recall of De La Cruz to cease while De La Cruz and Velazquez spearhead the effort to recall District Attorney John Sarsfield. Combining that with their newly-filed grand jury complaint not only shows the dishonesty on Velazquez and De La Cruz’s part, but now three is an even more determined effort to escalate the hostile political climate that exists in the county.
Being the Free Lance is an impartial voice and wants to aid in the healing of the community, they may want to extend their plea to De La Cruz and Ignacio in dropping their baseless recall of Sarsfield as well as the grand jury complaint.
Recalls can bring the worse out of people. Last Friday Mrs. Conroy received a threatening phone call that seems to have happened because of her husband’s involvement with the group intent on recalling De La Cruz. Sadly, the call reeks of those responsible for poisoning Sarsfield’s family pets.
In rounding out the local political upheaval there’s the Marvin Jones letter to the editor about the Recall John Sarsfield headquarters on the corner of San Benito and Fifth streets. Marvin mentioned this building was the Bush/Cheney headquarters for three months last year. But it’s now filled with loose-cannon local Republicans along with disgruntled-Democrat good ol’ county boys and girls. With misleading sign placement on their recall headquarters windows, Marvin and his bunch implies it’s still the party headquarters and that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports the recall.
If Marvin and those involved with the recall were truly an honest and ethical group, they would place a disclosure on the building and state in print that the Republican Party does not sanction or endorse the Sarsfield recall, and it is no longer headquartered there.
In parting, you may want to thank those out of touch with reality – environmentalists and liberal Socialist Democrats in Congress – for bringing us those high gasoline prices.
Paul is a retired grandfather of four, an avid 49ers fan, and cares deeply about what’s been left out of media reporting. E-mail,
pa*********@ho*****.com
