LIBRARY LOVE
I support our public library. It is public, you know? I visit the downtown and Shadle libraries frequently and am sorry to see so much discussion about the homeless in them. I attend meetings at both sites and use the bathrooms periodically and have never had any trouble. The staff at both facilities are very aware that some of their visitors may have life challenges, but all are treated with respect. I see folks using the computers, reading and playing video games. Most times things are quiet and I feel safe always.
The other issue for me is that of the Drag Queen Story Hour. My opinion is that if you disagree, don't come! It's funny that the "moms" didn't feel safe attending the discussion days before the hour but somehow feel safe protesting their opinions at the event. Too bad they couldn't have enlightened themselves beforehand. Ignorance breeds fear and knowledge gives us confidence in understanding. That is what libraries are for. Keep up the good work Spokane libraries!
Mary Nabor
Spokane, Wash.
Readers respond to an Inlander article about Spokane Public Schools use of "isolation" to deal with difficult students ("Singled Out," 6/20/19):
Kim Gage: Kids with these severe behavior problems aren't in public schools on the west side. They are in specialized schools that have all of the resources that these kids need. Here, we are trying our best to educate students with serious behavioral issues in a public school setting, but we don't have adequate resources to do the job well. And people get hurt, both kids and adults. We need to keep striving for a solution that works for the student and for the adults. Just as isolation rooms aren't the ideal solution for an escalated student, neither is an out-of-control student in an elementary school with hundreds of other children. Staff should not have to decide between isolation room use and getting kicked, hit, bitten and having furniture thrown at them.
Terry Parker: I remember being in a classroom in the Central Valley School District one day at an elementary school when a student in a behavioral intervention class had a complete meltdown and was throwing chairs and desks everywhere and she was placed in an isolation room where she took off all of her clothes, defecated on the floor and then smeared feces everywhere on the walls inside that room. That's what those rooms are for, to protect other children from that behavior.
Charlie Zeller: Can't blame a teacher for removing one bad kid who is keeping everyone else's kid from learning. All these parents act like their kid is perfect and the kid is really not. I am quite sure isolating or detention is not the first or even second option for trying to correct behaviors. ♦
