Speak Out 12/6/11

Reason, education

PEOPLE need to be good for society to last, but punishment is not the answer. Try appealing to them with reason and education.

Birth notices

I am calling about the birth notices and mothers not being married to the fathers. Maybe they should do some checking. I have been married to my husband for 30-plus years, and I did not take his name. So does that make my children illegal?

Proclamations

TO the person so concerned with President Obama's Thanksgiving Day proclamation, please get your facts straight. Not every president since George Washington has mentioned God in Thanksgiving Day proclamations. There were not even any proclamations made between 1816 to 1861. I have not read them all, just recent ones, but I do know that Clinton only mentioned God four out of eight times and George W. Bush mentioned God seven out of eight times.

Last name

REGARDING comments on unwed couples having babies: You older folks may not know it, but a lot of women now choose to not change their last name when they get married.

Quarry comment

I do not believe the comment that two cemeteries and an Indian mound were desecrated by two local quarries. I don't think something like that would have happened by chance. I believe it would have had to have been done on purpose. And that is asinine. If you don't like the quarries, that's one thing. To make up ridiculous stories about them to get the public behind you is self-destructive and accomplishes nothing.

School uniforms

I believe that if the Cape Girardeau School District wants the students and parents to follow a specific uniform policy in the schools, they should be willing to front the bill for each student to abide by this policy and keep the students supplied with uniforms throughout the year. I am not understanding how uniforms make grades and behavior issues better. A small percentage of students have problems with grades, bullying and behavior issues.

AR program

ACCELERATED Reader programs do encourage students to read, in part because they have to answer quiz questions over the content. Students are good at picking out what kinds of questions may be asked on a quiz. That is why AR reading programs have the unintended and unequivocally disastrous consequence of teaching students to read superficially.