European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Teachers students and administrators need an education Daniel Nukala id love to sit Down tonight and write a Long letter to someone about what is right in education today. But that a not going to happen a not this time. In a tired of being an apologist for our educational system of always playing Pollyanna looking on the proverbial Bright Side. In a tired of shaking my head when people Tell me this system of ours is broken or at least in need of a major overhaul. A ooh no a in be said softly. A a there a still much that is Good about our schools. You arc just in a bad mood today had a bad class last hour enjoy being the Grinch that stole the school  its time i stopped shaking my head and started shaking my Finger at the culprits instead. You want to know what a wrong with our schools today you want to play the a blame games and find out who sat fault Well i have 18 years Worth of experiences in the trenches to share. So Here we go in no particular order except the dictates of a Long memory. What a wrong with our schools today its students who know who the thief is yet believe some mysterious a code of ethics prevents them from turning in the criminal. What does this produce More thieves and a pack of liars who protect them. Its teachers who never make a phone Call to a Parent unless its bad news. The thought never crosses their minds to Call a Parent one evening and say a your child did Well in class  then again the thought probably never crossed their minds to Tell the student he did a Good Job that Day either. What Doc be our guest this produce parents and students who assume the Only news from the school is bad news. Its the student who tells me How glad she is to be Here because this is safer than her last school in the states but who merely watches when two a a friends of hers get into a fistfight because its not her Job to break it up. What does this produce those idiots who run to the scene of every fight stand and watch then go to first hour to give a blow by blow to those who missed it. Its parents who Are All too willing to eliminate the unpleasant consequences of their child a actions by making All the necessary excuses for them.  write the admit when the Little Darling decides to stay Home for a Day a to   leave work to run Home and get the big project to school so the Little dumpling can turn it in on time.  bring books and bags and munchies and Money and bus passes and backpacks at the sound of one demanding phone Call a i need it. Now a what does this produce a perpetual adolescent who never learns to take the consequences for his own irresponsible actions and who can always find someone else to pin failure on. Its students and teachers who demand Mutual respect because it says in the handbook that we should have it but  give you a Clear definition of the word if you paid them. They Seldom understand the deep truth beneath the cliche a respect is earned not Given because they spend so much time demanding respect that they fail to develop even the simplest methods of showing it. What does this produce rude people insensitive to the moods and feelings of others a not to mention lots of referrals to the office. Its the students who think that the Way to solve a problem is to fight their Way through it. They never learn to talk. They never learn to listen. They never learn the value of Compromise. They never learn much of anything until the inevitable Day when they lean that the same fist they be  in so Neone else a face really does Hurt when it smashes into theirs. What does this produce a Coward who gets no ones sympathy when he a finally beaten. Its politicians who have never spent one Day in a classroom working with educational consultants who got out of the classroom because they decided it was easier to impose solutions from the outside than it was to work things out from the inside. These people try to convince us t hat we need longer school Days longer school calendars and standardized curricula that will guarantee our ability to beat the snot out of the rest of from the cover .4-6 Here Conics Hillary. Sidelights.7, 9 a rocking Christmas show at radio City. Andy Rooney sees multiple school problems. Odds amp ends .10 Erma Bombeck Isnit skirting this Issue. In tune.11 George Carlin s Edge still cuts. This weeks films.12-13 Chuck Vinch drools Over Quot Bram stokers Dracula. A cafes circuit listings. Television radio.14-17 local Cable and satellite schedules. Home entertainment 18 not much fun in a Patriot  voices .21 Linda Ellerbee in Gays Camp is. Generals. Words amp wit.24 Tony Konheiser on the Mark. Books.25 Malcolm x floods the Market. On Parade .27 Kim Basinger s gentler Side. Last laugh .28 Dave Barry on attacking Christmas Trees. The world on math tests and geography quizzes. What do these people produce absolutely nothing. If words talk and actions walk then there a nothing in this world marching slower than an educational consultant. Of what a wrong with our schools is a lot of Little things really. Its the Parent who tells a child its All right to join the fight at the end of the football game because a those other Guys deserved it a and you were Only  its the student who loses a $35 textbook and can to imagine Why anyone is upset. Its the Punk who thinks its fun to pick on seventh graders because they re Small and a a that a what we All had to put up with when we were  its the teacher who sits in the lounge on the first Day of the new semester looks at the class rosters and announces who the really Rotten ones Are so the rest of us can be forewarned. Its the students who misuse the sacs program As a Way to get out of a class the parents who done to even know what the program is it stands for adolescent substance abuse counselling services and the teachers who figure any program designed to help a those kids can to be Worth a Hill of Beans to begin with. You might reasonably be thinking to yourself a geez this Guy needs to get out of  you know what today for the first time in my teaching career that very thought crossed my mind. But after i wrote this i Felt better. And tomorrow i have a few new things on my Agenda. In a going to Tell that girl that this school wont be any safer than her last one unless she does her part to make it that Way. In a going to Tell that kid who asked what to do about a theft to Trust me enough to give me a name. In a going to Tell the people who were laughing about the fight at the football game that they re dead wrong. And in a going to make a few phone Calls. Good ones. A Daniel Nukala teaches at we Brucken High school in Germany. Send in your column plus a photo of yourself to be our guest sunday Magazine the stars and stripes Apo 09211 or Postrach 11 14 37, d-6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany. Paramount Anne Archer in Patriot games. Page 18.sunday is a weekly supplement of the stars and stripes editor Bucky Fox Art direction Peter Jaeger production Mon Trice Presley editorial assistance Marian Hamilton Louis Pierce Page 2 a sunday december 6, 1992