Recently I read a letter to the editor asking even those voters without children at home to help support our public schools. The writer asked them to vote yes in Monroe’s Feb. 5 election to renew the local levy, build and modernize schools and give each kid a chance to compete and be successful with quality school programs and consistent and reliable tools like technology.
Well, I don’t have any children living in my home and, at age 61, am probably considered an older voter. There is no doubt in my mind that I’m voting yes for both school ballot issues because I want my community and my home to remain safe.
Kids need these quality programs to keep them off the streets and help them make good choices. Although I am told there are reams of scientific studies that confirm success in school and school activities as deterrents to crime, to me it is just common sense.
Students that are stacked on top of each other in crowded classrooms are going to look for a way to distinguish themselves among their peers. Sometimes their choices are not positive and lead to breaking into houses or defacing public property.
Young people with too much time on their hands without after-school activities can also come up with some pretty unpleasant ideas of things to do – like using or dealing drugs on our street corners. It is likely that struggling students who don’t get the help they need are not going to make positive life choices and may end up stealing cars or snatching purses for income.
Now, of course, not every young person in that type of situation makes poor choices, but some do. Those who do typically do not have access to quality school programs and activities that pique their interest in a foreign language or music or baseball or whatever.
I am voting yes because it is the right thing to do – for me and my community. It is money well spent.
Monroe
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