Protecting our children in school

To the editor: With respect to the criticism that is being given to the decision Mrs. Cole has made with “the writing on the wall,” I would like to state my perspective. First I would like to make the point that if a child within the school hadn’t written on the wall of the public rest room in the first place, we wouldn’t have an issue to be dealt with. Second, because the source of this problem is within the students, (all of the same age bracket) it unfortunately involves the students in order to resolve it. If Mrs. Cole knew who the culprit was, this would not have become a public matter. Now she has made it clear to all of her students that this is unacceptable. As far as the discussion of the meaning of the threat, if the children weren’t already asking for a definition because they had read it on the wall, the dictionary is what they are taught to use when they need an answer. My question is this: are we protecting our children by not educating them with the facts? When my daughter complained about the new rules for using the bathroom, I asked her, “Do you know what the word “rape” means?” She answered me “yes” and I responded - “Then you shouldn’t be questioning why you are not allowed in the bathroom unsupervised.” As a parent concerned about the well being of my daughter, I feel Mrs. Cole has made some tough decisions that she should be given credit for but instead she is being criticized for taking immediate action to begin protecting our young ladies. I am a mother of 4 daughters and I applaud Mrs. Cole for thinking of the children first. Karin Willis Milford