ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 21, 1997 TAG: 9704210090
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: N. WAYNE TRIPP
AS I READ your news articles on ``Disorder in the Schools'' (March 30 and 31), I was reminded of what I wrote several years ago in a message to parents: ``The education of young people is a partnership among students, parents, professional educators, and the community as a whole.''
Experience has proved the accuracy of that. Parents direct their children's education. Professional educators provide formal education for most children. The community as a whole makes a critical difference by supporting young people with its resources. Young people are arguably the most essential element in their own education. Yet none of these groups holds the exclusive patent for a successful educational system.
Nearly everyone believes that schools should be safe and secure for young people and school employees. For the most part, they already are. Studies show they are among the safest places young people frequent. Nonetheless, violence and drug use have become a part of school life in 1997.
Keeping schools safe requires the efforts of all the partners in the educational system. Too often partners succumb to the temptation of an easy answer or the convenience of a scapegoat as a response to the complex problem of school discipline. Some survey data suggest that educators see the problem as societal in nature while parents see it as embedded within the school environment.
A more promising approach is to view school discipline as a challenge for all the partners. It's ``our'' problem and ``we'' have to work together to remedy it. Roanoke Valley schools can only be as good as we choose to make them.
It's imperative that we choose to make our schools and communities safe and secure places. To do so, we must influence the variables over which we have some control. Parents must set limits for their children, and stand by them. Professional educators must acknowledge discipline problems in schools, and deal with them firmly and fairly. The community must recognize that additional resources may be necessary to ensure safe schools, and be willing to help provide those resources. All adults must set positive examples for young people, especially with regard to drugs and alcohol. Young people must exhibit respect for all people and property.
Once we have recommitted ourselves to fulfilling our own individual responsibilities, then we can begin working together in a partnership to solve the challenge of disorder in schools and in society.
N. Wayne Tripp-is superintendent of Salem schools.
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