The message below was sent to me yesterday and it relates directly to our half day, early dismissal schedule and students walking to town. I have indicated in the past my reservations about this practice and the the below message reinforces my concerns.
On any given half day, two hundred plus middle school students walk to town, unsupervised. We would not schedule a field trip without supervision and you would likely not have twenty kids in your house if you were not home. So the question becomes, how is this different?
I share this message with the hope that you consider this the next time we have a half day. Your child may ask if it is ok to walk to town, but please know, there is 200+ other students asking the same question.
Here is the message I received:
Principal Long,
Good afternoon, and Happy Thanksgiving Holiday! I wanted to send this email to you, in the hopes that we can finally put these constant issues to rest. Something needs to be done about these students, in regards to shorter days and the like. Yesterday, and now today, the kids from your school have come over to the Village at Newtown shopping center, and proceed to treat it like their own personal playground. They argue with all forms of authority, and ultimately treat my center, as well as its tenants, with utter disrespect. I understand that in todays modern times, once the kids leave the school, they are no longer under the schools care; However, I urge you to still reach out to the parents of your student body, to help them understand what their children are doing as soon as they leave school on shorter days. I am asking you for this, as I am trying to run a shopping center during the busy holiday season, and cannot continue wasting the polices’ resources, in chasing the kids away. I understand that they’re just happy to get out early, and with winter vacation coming up, it can exacerbate those emotions; I am only asking for your help in reigning these kids in, before one of them gets hurt. Again, it being the holiday season, traffic is increased, and with the kids all running around, into the street and all over the parking lots, someone will get hurt, and I am just hoping that we can work together to prevent this. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me or email me, and we can further discuss any options. Thank you for your time, and again, Happy Thanksgiving!
Regards,
