Better obey teachers

There was a recent article in the local Catholic newspaper where a woman from Rogers implied that if her child got a detention for participating in a protest connected with the Parkland, Fla., shooting, that it would be OK. My reaction was that if my child got a detention for disobeying a teacher, they would also get grounded. If I had an issue with the teacher, I would have a private meeting with the teacher, but the child would know that they had better obey the teacher.

We parents have a God-given authority to raise and discipline our children, and we delegate that to our teachers. That authority to raise and discipline is not given to the child. And we wonder why there are so many discipline problems in the schools when our children know that we parents will not support the teacher. Catholic High for Boys took a good approach to the protest. A teacher told me that the principal announced that there would be no disruption of classes for the protest, but the students could come up with a suggestion of what they thought they could do. They suggested a 17-minute silence at the beginning of lunch/study hall in memory of the 17 students and teachers killed. This was approved by the teachers. The teacher told me you could hear a pin drop in the hall at the beginning of lunch.

This was a fitting tribute—not a detention—not a rebellion against authority. God bless our teachers and may they experience our support. JOHN HARTNEDY

Maumelle