Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 25, 1993                   TAG: 9307260310
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: D-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

THE PADDLE SERVED A VALUABLE PURPOSE

Your last sentence, concerning the rights of students, is ill-advised. Today, most judges and some parents are more concerned about students' rights than their right to an education. So long as students can do whatever they desire, little learning will take place in our schools.

You described a dark-ages environment for corporal punishment. I taught during those days. A paddle hung on the principal's wall and was rarely used, but its influence was always there. A policeman should never have to use his gun, but take it away from him and see what happens to crime.

Let's give your city two schools - one with discipline (dress code, proper manners, correct language usage, punctuality, study habits) run by teachers, and one without discipline run by students. At the end of five years, where do you think parents will want their children? JOHN E. REED SALEM