As a qualified teacher and Redlands resident, I enjoyed reading the Education supplement in the Redland City Bulletin (May 13). There are some great schools and inspirational leaders here.
A few questions came to mind concerning the state of affairs in the region, the country and the world.
Would readers consider the incidence of widespread depression, physical and sexual abuse of women and children, the radicalisation of the young to travel to the Middle East and join ISIS, the abuse of drugs now exceeding that of alcohol and the astonishing increase in the rate of suicide.
Is education the appropriate venue to investigate the reasons for these destructive and demeaning occurrences and perhaps implement a cure?
I believe the values that I grew up with in the 1950s are the fundamentals now missing in our way of life and believe these could be re-introduced through our school systems and be effective in spite of the dominance of computers and social media.
By values I mean the simple basics such as respect for others, honesty, accountability and taking responsibility for your own actions.
As an occasional supply teacher in local secondary schools both private and public, I have been warned by senior staff to be very careful when attempting to discipline misbehaving students.
You could be sued was often the phrase used.
At one school I was put in charge of year 10 boys and girls. They were totally unmanageable, but when I asked for direction from the principal I was told: "Don't try to teach them, just keep them quiet so they don't disturb the rest of the school."
I was often thanked by students for trying to restore a learning environment in the classroom. Where to now?
Dick Lee, Thornlands
