OTHER VOICES- MAY 25, 1999

The term "gadfly" refers to "an annoying person, especially one who provokes others into action by criticism." I have found out through the years that there are others out there... gadflies, whistle-blowers, editorial writers, messengers... the tenants tend to mistreat the them all.. It is really biblical talk! I don't know what happened to this teacher. If in 1999, she had been teaching 30 years, she has since long retired. Do you think some of the teachers in Parkland, Florida should read this editorial. Other voices... another time... ignored in this time....

published editorial - just about one month after Columbine High School and the announcement on national television that the shooters had no history of behavior issues- by  of all people, the principal.

As those who write, getting help for students does not mean you sympathize with their actions. Sympathy leads to inaction. Empathy- leads to action. Is the paycheck of ignorance really worth it?


The Press of Atlantic City- May 25. 1999

by Shelly Wentz


Having taught school in the Atlantic City school system for 30 years, I would like to share my thoughts on the violence at Columbine High School in Colorado. As an art teacher, I was able to work with the same children from kindergarten through sixth grade. I was able to track intellectual and emotional growth of an individual child from a long range perspective.

The teachers in Colorado knew who these students were long before the violence occurred.. All teachers, in schools everywhere. know who these children are. These children just don't appear magically in high school without warning. They have been there all along, sending out messages of pain and loneliness. They have been ticking time bombs for the past 10 years.

They cried out for help but the only ones hearing them were their teachers. But who was listening to the teachers? Not those who are paid the big bucks to administer the system and not those elected to make the system better.

The principals blame the school boards for lack of funding for these disturbed kids. and the board claims they aren't notified of the problems. But who has to put up with it on a day to day basis? It is the teachers and the rest of the class.

The teachers refer to the students to the child study team year after year, where they wait on the list for evaluation. The parents are in denial when you tell them their child stabbed another student in the arm with a pair of scissors because he wouldn't let him use the orange crayon or the disturbed child has been taught at home to fight back in a physical way. When you look the child in the eyes and ask him why he stabbed his fellow student, he stares back and swears it wasn't him even when you have 20 students who saw the incident take place.

This isn't the regular bad kid in the class. We know them too. This is that outer fringe. The kind of child you only see once in a couple of years. This is the kid that told me that he threw his kittens into the bay to see if they could swim.

If you are a teacher or are on staff at an elementary school, you know who these kids are. They all have abusive or neglectful parents, brought up on violence, steeped in hatred, parents on drugs or worse- it makes no difference if you are in Colorado or in Atlantic City.

Those are the kids who scare us. We fear being in a room alone with them. Teachers, you know them. We warn years in advance of horror that results in ignoring these kids. But no one acts on our alarm. We knew them in kindergarten, in third grade, and we know them throughout their entire school careers. All the students know them too.

It's time to heed what teachers have been telling us about our children. We need to isolate the problems and spend whatever funds it takes to get these kids help in their earliest years, or remove them from the public school systems. We must do it for every one's sake.

Shelly Wentz
Atlantic City
May 25, 1999