Replies

Firstly, responding to the thread:

1. I see armed police in private establishments all the time, such as the grocery store I once worked in and at the movie theaters;

2. I have seen armed police at public establishments, such as churches when they needed help with funerals, weddings, etc.

3. We, my school, have TWO fully licensed, sworn and trained deputy sheriffs with full arrest powers on campus, at all sporting events and activities.

These men are there to provide necessary protection to the student body and the school. It does not bother me in the least.

Additionally, I have a CCW, am fully armed and working on becoming an excellent shot with a rifle. If I can hit a playing card at 300 meters, I am good.:)

I do not and will not carry at school because of the liability and the fact too many students are involved. This does not mean I am opposed to teachers carrying, but I will not at school or a school function.

There - that part of this is settled.

The second part - dealing with the ravenous homeschool crowd (and I use the term crowd to mean a collective, not an individual entity) I feel the same way about homeschooling as I always have: if it is what is best for you and your family, I am for it. I have, to boot, several pieces of hard evidence to support its effectiveness based on state mandated testing, not anecdotal commentary.

My child’s physician is homeschooling their oldest child and I am in the process of helping them with her. She has a severe reading disability and needs help beyond the scope of our rural county (This, as an aside, is the same physician who referred my son to Atlanta and Egleston Children’s Hospital for myocarditis. He was/is wise enough to realize when he is out-gunned.) so I am trying to help them as much as possible.

I have personally offered my services to the homeschool community in my area as a language teacher, Latin, for their cohort. No answer yet, but I continue to offer.

So, where am I going with all of this? I refer back to my digression about my child and physician.

My child’s personal pediatrician admitted to my wife that Jake’s, my son, condition was *well* outside of the scope of his skill. Had he not referred us, the outcome was very, very dire - no, Jake would have been dead.

A medical professional admitted, honestly and forthright, that he could not answer a question. He did not equivocate, egress or ignore but instead handed us into the hands of someone who could help.

That said, this is directed to Dr. Wintertime.

Dr. Wintertime, you have, elsethread and on more than one occasion, commented on how professional teachers would not and do not need to avoid hard and serious questions with students. I fully agree. You are right; I do not avoid the hard questions. If I do not know, I am fast to admit it to my children at school and home. There is no run or ask to be ignored.

However, as a medical professional, would you ignore a patient who is seeking your medical expertise and experience? Would you politely and respectfully ask them to leave your presence and not bother you further?

Is it fair to ask difficult and hard to answer questions of teachers but not to do the same of medical professionals?

And as you consider/do not consider my answer, I leave you with this: I guarantee, and will provide empirical evidence, not anecdotal evidence, that the history of the medical profession is considerably more tainted with negativity and damage than the same of public education. However, this is not the topic nor the thread to discuss.

I await your response, keenly.

To Dr. Wintertime and the rest: Happy New Year.