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Fiorentino lacks compassion

Is Fiorentino leaving? Maybe Jan. 19 story

Please don't appoint Heather Fiorentino to be the education commissioner. Because of the recent spectacular and public case of bad judgment, she has shown that she does not have the breadth of perspective that is required for superintendent or for education commissioner. The Patti Withers suicide attempt brought this to light.

I certainly understand her plan to fire the teacher as an initial reaction. As an administrator, I would be furious and see clearly the risk presented to students from having a teacher suicide at school. What a trauma for them, even if it weren't children who found the body. What a legacy for them, to have to go to school where a teacher killed herself And perhaps the administrative rules made "immorality" the only available opening to accomplish the need to protect students from this risk.

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among teenagers. In light of this, a good administrator would have been able to see that an even more powerfully damaging message was being sent to students by her response.

The message given by a push for firing on immorality grounds tells students that if they feel suicidal, they better not tell anyone at school. It will prevent them from stopping the pain and label them as immoral And because they already feel like a failure and bad, now they know they are for sure.

Any response that is not compassionate and understanding of the fact that mental illness causes irrational acts pushes suicidal students further away from reaching out for the help they so desperately need. Adolescents are developmentally exquisitely sensitive to emotional symbols and metaphors. What a metaphor to give them.

Susan Gould, Land O'Lakes

[Last modified January 28, 2007, 07:40:22]