How do you Earn the right to sit at a desk in our schools and colleges

[srkruzich]

A lesson that should be taught in all schools... and colleges


A True Story checked out at  http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp




Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten.  On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

'Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said..

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon, television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom.  Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.  The Vets began placing the school desks in rows and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall.  By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks.  These heroes did it for you.  They placed the desks here for you.  Now, it's up to you to sit in them.  It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens.  They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education.  Don't ever forget it.'


By the way, this is a true story.

Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. & Canadian Veterans.

[Varmit]

While I think it makes for a good "support our military" type of story, the idea behind it is flawed.  If public education was a priviledge it wouldn't be mandatory.  As a veteran, I appreicate the sacriface our troops make for our freedoms, the costs of which cannot be measured.  I think that using them in a way that goes against the freedoms they have fought for is shameful. 

When the teacher said that the students hadn't earned the right to sit in those desks, the students reply should have been, "we weren't given a choice."