Comments on: School Safety, Shirley Sherrod, Arizona Immigration Law, & the White House Beer Summit: What’s the Connection?

By: Ken Trump

Ken Trump — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:10:25 +0000

Sadly, our kids are often modeling the behavior they see unfold before them in their communities and at the political level (locally and nationally). Behavior is learned and it shows.

By: Bob Rinearson

Bob Rinearson — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:17:37 +0000

Charges of racism from all sides have become all too increasingly common over the past years, to the point where it seems no objectivity exists when it comes to students and managing behavior. Parents become emotional or detatched and refuse to hear any negative news, thus they hide behind charges of racism which in the long term does their child little good when it comes to accepting repsonsibility. In return the child progressively learns how to manipulate by coming to believe “So what if I do wrong, as long as I can make this into a racial issue and knowing that Mom or Dad will back me up…no big deal.”
It makes any educator’s job far more complicated, and often enough, quite frustrating.

By: Chuck Hibbert

Chuck Hibbert — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:40:14 +0000

This honest and frank conversation is overdue at all levels in this country. Unfortunately, we hesitate to have it at the peril of us all, and no place more than the schoolhouse. If we (schools) are not the place for this discussion and understanding, how can we expect people to change their minds or attitudes later in life? Too often over the years, we all have seen and experienced problems simply based upon the color of one’s skin. These attitudes, by all people, are certainly a contributing factor to school unrest and violence.

By: Ken Trump

Ken Trump — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:30:27 +0000

Thanks, John. You serve as a role model for school safety professionals and educators. Given your vast experience and years of service, it is so motivating to see your passion today is as strong, if not stronger, than your first day on the job. Keep fighting the good fight. People may disagree, as they can and should when appropriate, but we must get redirected to an environment where they openly and honestly converse versus say one thing and think/do the other to be politically correct. The latter does nothing to serve kids and it also does nothing for the integrity and self-respect (or respect from others) of the education or school safety professional.

By: John H. Weicker

John H. Weicker — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:58:35 +0000

What say I? As a person who has served in various positions in the field of education (as a custodian, teacher, building level administrator, and presently central office administrator/Security Director) – I say that by your present stated thoughts on this topic, you will down the road be proven to have been (unfortunatly) truly “visionary” and accurate in your assessment. I have been directly invovled in the discipline/security portion of the educational pie now since 1978. I simply can not agree more with your stated concerns, Ken. I concur with you completeley. As always, those charged with insuring that our schools are safe will need to make certain that they deal with these tough issues on a case to case basis, and not be swayed by political pressure to do anything but what they believe to be correct for not only those directly involved in any disruptive behavior, but what is right for the majority of kids who are just trying to go to school to learn (and as always will learn much from how the significant adults in their lives react). I commend you for publically bringing this issue to the forefront in such a professional manner, so that it can be discussed intelligently in an open forum. John