To the editor:

Yes, it got out of hand. Why were these kids out at 1:30 a.m. and not at home?

I thought we had a curfew in Gustine. Did parents allow this? I heard that some parents took their children down to the school.

Don’t tell me that some of the parents didn’t know about this. First of all, this article doesn’t pertain to all parents and students.

My family has had three generations and in two years will have four generations that have gone through Gustine High School. We have always respected this school. Some people in our community are very disgusted with the behavior of the Class of 2008.

I am not alone in what I am saying. When I say “we,” I mean the people in the community.

We know the students had a plan for this prank.

We have supported so many of the programs, sports, fund-raisers, the campaign to save the name of the school, scholarships and academic programs. Is this the “thanks” we get for what we did for you?

You have embarrassed your teachers, parents, administrators and people from other areas. In the 37 years I worked for this school district, I can’t remember anything like this incident (to this degree) happening.

If any of us older people did this while attending school, we would have gotten double the trouble at home.

We have thought of you as young adults. How can you be trusted and respected now that you are going to be out in the real world? You people are going to be our future citizens.

Does the class expect the district to pay for the damages? I don’t think so. The district had to lay people off from their jobs due to budget cuts. We don’t need more expenses.

You have destroyed school property which belongs to the taxpayers, including your parents.

I definitely think there should be punishment. Not only did they vandalize the school, they cost the taxpayers money. Taxpayers are tired of spending money in this district that is not accountable, which I mean is spent foolishly.

There are many ways to punish students.

They can get their diploma, but not go through graduation exercises.

Come up with the money for all the damages.

Have the parents pay, but I don’t think they should when these kids are old enough to get a job and pay for the damages themselves, when they made the decisions by themselves. They will learn the value of money this way.

These students should have known better because they are not little kids.

Parents, don’t let your kids run your life and don’t let them bluff you.

For example, I once called a parent in about her daughter not behaving in class, and the mother said she couldn’t talk to her daughter because her daughter was threatening to run away from home. I said, “maybe you could even help her, but she wouldn’t stay away too long.”

Today the kids are not afraid of the law, teachers, parents or anyone with authority because their attitude is that no one can touch them.

In one other incident I had with a student while teaching, I said that I was going to speak with his parents. He said, “Go ahead, because if they do anything to me I will get them for child abuse.”

That’s what I mean now about bluffing parents.

Parents, I’m not knocking you down, but take more time with your children and supervise them in their activities.

When your children leave the nest, you can’t do much more with them as they get on their own, and hopefully they will be responsible adults.

I know they will always need guidance as they come and go.

I think this is a bad time, especially now at graduation, but they brought this upon themselves.

I wish all the graduates a happy and healthy future. Make good decisions and be responsible in your life.

Lois Borba, Gustine

Be first to comment this story

Comments
Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Please increase the credibility of your post by including your full name and city when commenting. Although we are under no obligation to do so, we reserve the right to remove any comments we deem to be defamatory, libelous or otherwise inappropriate.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*