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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, dEcEmbER 16, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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SHANNON ARLINT
circulation manager
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Production manager
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Systems manager
OUR VIEW
Zero tolerance for school hooliganism
T
here are troubling signs of
aggression and discord in
schools and between stu-
dents away from school grounds.
This led to a quickly arranged
all-day faculty meeting at Ilwaco
High School on Dec. 8. The meet-
ing generated more commu-
nity concern than apparently was
intended, after the school district
made reference in an online post to
the students recently murdered in a
school shooting in Oxford, Michi-
gan. There was no immediate threat
of deadly violence in Ilwaco.
There are, however, gravely con-
cerning behaviors. In November,
for example, police dealt with a
report of three teenage girls threat-
ening to beat up another girl and
telling her to kill herself.
Ilwaco isn’t the only local cam-
pus with problems. Parents cite
bullying issues at Hilltop Middle
School. The Seaside School District
suspended classes on Dec. 7 out of
an abundance of caution in response
to a possible shooting threat at Sea-
side High School, which police
determined was not credible. A Sea-
side Middle School student is fac-
ing discipline after a bomb threat on
social media on Sunday.
There have been heated dis-
agreements at school board meet-
ings in Pacific and Clatsop counties
— and across the nation — about
pandemic precautions. These argu-
ments happen within the context
of bitter national political disputes,
which overlap into bad behavior
between students. Nor is this tox-
icity limited to students and their
Paul Sancya/AP Photo
People attending a vigil embraced at LakePoint Community Church in Oxford, Michigan, in November after a school shooting.
parents — some school faculty
members and staff also fall into
opposing camps.
For decades, factors like the sea-
sonality of jobs, alcohol and drug
abuse and the divide between eco-
nomic classes have spawned prob-
lems in local schools. Much as
most of us love it here, we see
some of the same societal chal-
lenges as metropolitan regions. But
we are perfectly capable of being
a kind, supportive and reasonably
smooth-functioning place.
Our nation is built on a founda-
tion of strong opinions. It would
be naive and unhelpful to pre-
tend we’re going to agree on all
important matters. Although it is in
some ways astounding that Amer-
icans would lock horns over virus
hygiene and vaccinations, nothing
excites stronger pushback than dic-
tates affecting our children. Ongo-
ing public-health education and
sympathy may gradually achieve
what shaming will not.
Tolerance for differing opin-
ions is one thing. Tolerating hooli-
ganism is something else entirely.
School administrators are right to
draw a hard line against feuds that
threaten to turn violent.
But it isn’t the job of schools
to raise decent, respectful and
law-abiding children and teens;
that vital mission is up to parents
and the wider community. Stu-
dents unable to get along in class-
rooms and schoolyards must face
appropriate consequences — con-
sequences that also make it crys-
tal clear to parents or guardians that
we will not put up with disruptive
delinquents.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Be grateful
Thank you, Dick Hughes, for your
guest column, “There is no back to nor-
mal” (Nov. 30)! Like you said, there is no
going back.
I’m grateful for that, while I do grieve
the many worldwide who have been lost
and affected by COVID-19 and its vari-
ants, lost jobs and businesses closing.
Sadly, too many are acting like the ongo-
ing pandemic is over by not wearing
masks in crowded venues; too many aren’t
getting vaccinated, fueling the pandemic.
Ironically, the pandemic has done us
some favors by helping people to slow
down, stay home, set or remember priori-
ties and millions have developed a love for
gardening, bird-watching, being grateful.
Pre-pandemic normal was driving
nature off the mountainside. If we con-
tinue to burn fossil fuels, pollute the
oceans, spray poisons and cut down our
air-producing trees, how will we slow the
loss of wildlife that has been normal for
centuries?!
Let’s focus on new paths of sustain-
ability that are anything but what the past
normal has been. Reduce use of plastics;
reuse, repair, repurpose; buy in thrift stores
and antique malls, and thank those folks in
service and in stores by name; plant trees;
drive less; live in kindness and patience;
focus on family, friends; and support those
in need of mental health, food and clothing.
Erase prejudice and live in truth, not
by political party lines. There is no going
back to normal. Be grateful for that, learn
from the past and find the good in your
new paths forward.
ROBIN RODGERS
Astoria
Common ground
The Cannon Beach community desper-
ately needs to heal and overcome the divi-
sions created by special interests regarding
the food tax vote.
Despite the Oregon Restaurant & Lodg-
ing Association’s substantial financial
activity, Cannon Beach citizens voted with
their hearts to support enhanced infrastruc-
ture and improved public safety. I am per-
sonally grateful that our hardworking first
responders will have adequate equipment
and personnel to keep us safe!
Some people have concerns about
the Cannon Beach ballot box, but let’s
think logically about the events and con-
sequences. Notably, city staff immedi-
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
than 250 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
ately disclosed everything to city, county
and state officials, knowing they might be
blamed for any irregularities.
And could city staff have realistically
altered the outcome? Would they have
sifted through ballots to remove likely
“no” votes when every voter can call the
county elections division to ask if their
ballot was received? No.
to other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and should refer to
the headline and date the letter was
published. Discourse should be civil.
Send via email to editor@dailyasto-
rian.com, online at bit.ly/astorianlet-
ters, in person at 949 Exchange St.
in Astoria or mail to Letters to the
Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
Would city staff have opened ballots
and changed votes when county officials
would have noticed disturbed envelopes
and contacted the voter? No.
Common sense suggests that city staff
did exactly as they claimed in trying to
save ballots — either “yes” or “no” votes
— from becoming soaked and unusable.
We may disagree with their choice, but
let’s give staff credit for trying to do the
right thing.
We clearly have an engaged and pas-
sionate community. But it is my hope
that now we can turn our shared passion
toward finding common ground, and creat-
ing a shared vision for the future.
MICKEY MORITZ
Cannon Beach
Mixed bag
Voting left-of-center most of the time,
and voting far-right the rest of the time,
does not make a politician a centrist. It
makes them a mixed bag.
Being willing to sacrifice children to
the gun lobby is not centrist. Being willing
to sacrifice continued life on Earth for the
sake of business interests is not centrist.
And, playing both sides against the
middle is not the same as being the middle.
RODNEY MERRILL
Astoria