DEAR EDITOR:
Those few of you who know me in this community, outside my
church family, probably think of me as a retired person with a
concern for the homeless.
DEAR EDITOR:
Those few of you who know me in this community, outside my church family, probably think of me as a retired person with a concern for the homeless. For this letter, however, I’d like to don another hat: That of the career teacher and educator I was before coming to Gilroy.
As such I’d like to share some comfort with the parents who are distraught at the prospect that their children may be separated from their former classmates in transition to middle school. Believe me, it is not necessarily bad for children facing adolescence to be compelled to make new friends. Sometimes it is a great blessing! That is especially true if the child has been for some time in a small exclusive group.
New friends bring the potential of fresh interests, new viewpoints, and a better understanding of human character, all of them avenues to personal growth. They may also lead to developing self-reliance, as a child is removed from over-dependence on a classmate.
Don’t be unduly disturbed if your young daughter tearfully declares that her heart will be broken forever if she is separated from her bosom friend! Chances are, the tears will dry quickly in the excitement of a new school year, if parents are supportive but do not encourage her immature response.
In adulthood few persons name as their only close friends those who started first grade with them. Along the way we develop new interests and approaches to life, often diverging from our earlier companions. Increasing maturity leads all of us to choose our friends based on shared values and concerns rather than by the accident of sitting beside me in class. A stability of relationships can be provided in family and faith communities, as well as in associations based on common interests, such as sports or the arts: Music, drama, dance.
Public education, on the other hand, by its very nature provides wide contacts with children of other backgrounds and cultures, teaching respect for differences. It is a function that has served our democracy well.
As the task force of the district seeks for the best placement of students it must take into consideration several important factors. It would be unfortunate to tie their hands by placing undue emphasis on only one factor, that of keeping former classmates together.
In all this I speak not only as a teacher, but as one who in childhood experienced a variety of school settings as my family moved from place to place.
I speak also as a mother whose children were reared in similar circumstances. I do not think the uprootings hurt either them or me. Perhaps they helped prepare us to be worthy members of our varied communities.
Florence Trimble, Gilroy
Submitted Tuesday, Dec. 10
