Today's Letters: Behavior wasted everyone's time

Editor's note: All of today's letters are in response to the Sept. 12 story, "Fight Over iPod hits sour note."

Behavior wasted everyone's time

This is a perfect example of what parents teach their children. The 16-year-old was definitely at fault and apparently not for the first time. Daddy stands up for his little girl and gets the whole school and everyone up to the top involved.

Who taught this kid to disrespect authority and that the rules don't pertain to her? She's already 16 and doesn't care about anyone but herself. It sounds like her father is just like her.

You never should have given her the space in your paper to print her picture. She must be loving all the attention right now. This is what we waste our tax money on and why the school taxes are so high. We have to protect our teachers from disrespectful kids and parents. The other students don't deserve to have these kids interrupting their classrooms every day.

When the assistant principal spotted the iPod, he should have suspended her by calling her parents to come and get her. Don't even waste the time dealing with the kid if she's not going to do what you say and play games with you. These parents don't realize the monster they have created and she will come back to haunt them with her disrespectful ways.

Teach your children better at home so our teachers can get on with their jobs for the students that care about learning.

Laurel Wimbish,New Port Richey

Babysitting isn't a teacher's job

I think the Times should not have wasted time covering this story as it just gives children like Kristen Munson what they want - the attention they obviously are crying out for.

This child (normally I would use the term young adult for a 16-year-old but that would imply she has some level of maturity) has been disciplined before and once again disobeyed a school official and should therefore be expelled. It is immature, undisciplined children like Kristen that selfishly take away time in the classroom from other students who want to get an education. It is this type of behavior that forces our teachers to be babysitters rather than educators and this practice needs to stop.

It is time for Kristen's parents, especially her father, to step up to the plate and accept the responsibility of being a parent. While I don't feel our school officials should use force unless it is the last resort, Kristen could have avoided this by just listening to assistant principal Thomas Brochu in the first place. Instead she chose to show off and be defiant once again, crying out for attention as well as disrupting her class.

Instead of looking to press charges against Mr. Brochu, Roger Munson should be asking his daughter why she disobeyed a school official yet again. According to the article she was suspended as least twice before for iPod usage and not obeying the rules. Sorry, but in my book three strikes and you are out. This child most likely would benefit from some form of counseling as she obviously has no respect for authority. But then again, this type of behavior usually begins at home and unless dealt with at home, it spills over into our schools disrupting classes and affecting the education all of our children deserve.

I would also hope that Kristen Munson would be expelled for consistent disruptive and disobedient behavior in school and let her parents deal with correcting this problem child.

John Honoski, Trinity

Story glorified girl's immaturity

It is patently obvious that the writers of this article are completely sympathetic with a student who flouts the rules. They have practically glorified her with an article that I'm sure will have a prominent place in her scrapbook, and quite likely on her MySpace page. (Cute little picture of her and her devoted dog included).

Sorry, but she is a young lady with an attitude. The suspension is well deserved. It is not difficult to see where the attitude comes from. Her father threatened the assistant principal with citizen's arrest (while there was a deputy sheriff present). The assistant grabbed her wrist when she tried to get rid of the iPod. Good heavens! Talk about a father overreacting!

If, in fact, some teachers are allowing students in their classes to use iPods in spite of spelled out rules to the contrary, then they need to get their acts straight as well.

F. Darrell Thomas, Trinity

Principal was doing his job

At what point do parents and kids start taking responsibility for their actions instead of deflecting the problem and trying to have a assistant principal lose his job?

The daughter got suspended again. She has a record of rebellion at that school. The father should take the suspension and leave the assistant principal alone while thinking about sending his daughter into politics. Politicians don't follow rules and don't take any responsibility, so she might make a good fit.

The School Board might turn the investigation into a witch hunt like they did for the teacher who helped the handicapped students with the FCAT test. Heck, she gave the School Board an excuse to lose her job and now the district doesn't have to pay an experienced teacher and maybe not even pay her pension.

The assistant principal was following school policy, the student was not. It's events like this that make me glad I never obtained a job with this county.

Joseph Gambino, Hudson

Rules specific about iPods

Your article makes Mr. Brochu out to be some kind of powerful uncaring man. In reality, he is a very nice, as well as capable, assistant principal. Kristen Munson, on the other hand, has been in trouble more than once.

What your readers may not know is what we teachers have to endure everyday.

In the student handbook given to all kids on the first day of the school year, it specifically states that iPods and cell phones and similar devices are forbidden to be used during the school day. The teachers go over the handbook with the kids and they are required to sign a page in the book that states the teacher has gone over the handbook. Still, they bring them to school.

Some MP3 players are cell phones and cameras. Kids run their ear plugs up under their shirts to conceal them. We have had kids taking pictures of tests and emailing them to their friends. We also have had kids record answers to tests and download them to their MP3 players and texting their friends with test answers. Those seem to be good and valid reasons for kids not to have music players and such devices at school.

In the picture you have for the article, you show Kristen playing with her dog. Does that look like she is being punished? Do you really think she cares about being suspended?

We teachers have to endure disrespect from kids every day. What she did was disrespectful to the school and the assistant principal. Maybe if the parents spent more time teaching their kid to respect rules and authority we would be reading an article on how well she was doing in school instead of how she broke the rules and dad wants someone else to pay.

Steve Franks, New Port Richey

[Last modified September 13, 2007, 20:56:07]