I am bleary-eyed as I write this column. It is 11:30 p.m. on
election night, and it looks like the school bond will pass. My gut
feeling that the voters of Gilroy would do the right thing has been
confirmed.
I am bleary-eyed as I write this column. It is 11:30 p.m. on election night, and it looks like the school bond will pass. My gut feeling that the voters of Gilroy would do the right thing has been confirmed.
For me, the passage of Measure I is all about redemption. The fact that people came out and voted, even when there was little enthusiasm for the top of the ticket, restores my faith in my fellow citizens. hank you Gilroy voters for letting our children know that they are worth the investment.
It was nerve-racking waiting for the news to trickle forth from the registrar’s office. It had occurred to me that if the unthinkable had happened – if the school bond had failed – that writing this column would have been akin to writing a requiem for our school district.
I was optimistic as I called voters earlier in the evening, reminding them to get out and vote. I had been optimistic last March, to no avail. The passage tonight of this bond and the election of our four school board members has rejuvenated me, and I am ready willing and able to continue to work towards improving our schools.
Now that we have settled on fixing the facilities problems which plague our schools, perhaps we can work together on fixing a problem I see inside our schools.
I think we’ve got to start teaching our students some manners. Too many students use inappropriate language, bully other students, and misbehave. There is probably a small group of chronic offenders at all of our school sites. We need to enforce a strict dose of discipline to these students, whose behavior ranges from the merely unruly to the gangster-in-training.
I don’t want to burden our teachers to do a job which should fall to the parents of these students. I also realize that a teacher can’t undo in a few days the kind of behavior which is either tolerated or encouraged in some homes.
I have driven behind the car whose bumper sticker boasts “my kid beat up your honor student.” I have heard language on the playground that is shockingly graphic, sometimes sexually, other times racist. The stream of expletives comes trippingly off the tongue of some of these kids. While this is a mostly male problem in elementary school, at the junior high level some of the girls seem to be fighting for equal time.
I have no experience on the high school campus, but I would hope that as the students mature the incidents become less frequent.
I think that any student who repeatedly offends other students needs a little “on campus boot camp” to straighten them out.
Parents should be included in this boot camp, and the school district should let all these parties know that an education is a privilege not to be taken lightly. Common decency and respect for others should be the norm. I am all for waging a campaign within our schools to promote just that.
Denise Baer Apuzzo has lived in Gilroy for 5 years. She is married and is a parent of three children who attend Gilroy public schools. You can reach her at: [email protected]. Her column is published each Thursday in The Dispatch.
