Published: October 1, 1994

Letters

Don't Get Personal

Yes, schools are "dangerous places'' ["Connections,'' September], and Rodney Wilson's stand at Mehlville High School ["Getting Personal,'' September] is one reason why. Parents who entrust their children to public schools expect that an agreed- upon curriculum will be taught and that the community's moral standard will be upheld. Thus, Karen Harbeck is correct when she says teachers don't have a license to expatiate upon their personal lives. That right was lost when the baby-boomer generation could not decide, as a whole, what is "right'' and what is "wrong.'' Thus, there is no "community'' moral standard, and any statement of personal morality by a teacher is going to offend someone.

Sooner or later, parents will complain (as indeed they should) when their children are directed contrary to the home's moral teaching by a teacher. After all, a child's upbringing is the parents' responsibility, and their tax dollars are supporting the school. Teachers are supposed to supplement parental upbringing, not supplant it....