W-E leader lauded for walkout response

A letter published in The News-Herald on March 24 condemned Willoughby-Eastlake Schools Superintendent Steve Thompson for punishing the students who participated in the March 14 walkout protesting school violence.

I am glad that someone had enough sense to see that for most students, this walkout was simply a way to get out of school for a few minutes.

What did those students think they were accomplishing by walking out?

If their answer was that they were trying to bring awareness about a problem, I’ve got news for them.

Everyone already knows there is a problem.

If the solution was simple, someone would have come up with it already.

Causing yet another disruption in the school day had absolutely no effect in resolving anything.

A large part of the problem is the lack of discipline imposed on young people in today’s society, and that begins in the home and continues with the school.

Mr. Thompson was actually doing the right thing by trying to instill some discipline into these students by punishing those who caused a disruption by walking out. I can only hope that the parents of the guilty students were supportive of his actions.

Where was the media focus on those schools that held positive events on that day? In some school districts, students were encouraged to write letters to their congressmen.

Some schools provided suggestions for “walk-up” activities instead of a walkout, encouraging students to walk up to a student who had been marginalized by others and try to make a new friend. Private schools held prayer sessions.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson, for teaching the students that disobedience and disruptive behavior have consequences. Rosalie M. Troha Mentor