Our country is founded on several key values and two of the most important are the right to vote and the belief in presumed innocence. Several school districts in St. Charles county, Missouri, seem determined to teach some important lessons to their students vis á vis these rights:
- United States citizens of voting age are presumed dangerous to students.
- United States elections are so dangerous that students of any age must not be allowed in the building while voters are present.
Here’s the article:
STLtoday – News – St. Louis City / County
Schools will close for general election01/29/2008
ST. CHARLES COUNTY — Students in the Fort Zumwalt, Wentzville and Francis Howell school districts won’t have classes on Nov. 4 while the buildings serve as polling places for the presidential election.
St. Charles School District students will be dismissed early that day. The county does not use any schools in the Orchard Farm district, so classes will be scheduled as usual Nov. 4.
Rich Chrismer, director of elections for St. Charles County, said the Election Authority and the school districts were responding to concerns about student safety.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines paranoia as “a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others.”
Mixed messages confuse and hurt children. They need adults to model consistent, rational rules. Forbidding students and adults from being in the same school building on November 4, when the same students and adults can share restaurants, stores, libraries, and any other public place on that day, or any other day, simply teaches the children that adults make crazy decisions and cannot be trusted.
Kids are bright. They will notice subtle points such as:
- The presence of their own parents and neighbors is a safety risk.
- Eighteen year old classmates become dangerous while voting but magically are safe again the next day.
- Eighteen year old students, sent to the middle schools and elementary schools by the school district to tutor younger students, become magically dangerous one day a year.
If you have a student in any of these school districts, I encourage you to discuss this matter with them. As parents, we already face credibility issues with our children. Ignoring this “close the schools on election day” decision will only reinforce those issues. Better to have your children know how you feel about this than to have them guess your thoughts based on your silence.
You might also contact the school districts:
- Ft. Zumwalt, Dr. Bernard J. DuBray, Superintendent, (636)272-6620
- Wentzville, Dr. Terry Adams, Superintendent of Schools, (636)327-3800
- Francis Howell, Dr. Renée Schuster, Superintendent, (636)851-4000
- St. Charles, Dr. Randal D. Charles, Superintendent of Schools, (636)443-4000
We adults have a responsibility to the next generation: teach respect for other people, not fear of them. Paranoia is not safety.
