An Op-ed: Holding Parents & Students Accountable

Holding parents and students accountable

by Weldon Clark

A good education is needed to earn a living, be productive, and have a strong family and country.

In order to get a good education 3 things are needed: a dedicated student, parents who care and a good school.

Unfortunately, this is not always happening today and it is the root of our education problem.

My parents insisted that we do our homework and pass our courses.

My parents helped with our studies and did not let us get distracted.

I went to a top notch public high school where I graduated in the top 5% of my class.

In college I worked hard and focused on my studies.

I graduated with high honors earning two degrees in engineering.

I finished my career at Ryobi teaching engineers both here and abroad.

We have good schools and teachers in Pickens County. Too often parents are not supportive and often students are more interested in other things besides learning.

Throwing more money at our schools or creating even higher standards is not the solution.

We cannot expect schools, teachers and taxpayers to make this right.

The responsibility for improvement sits with parents and students.

Students who are more interested in disrupting class than learning, and who have parents who don’t care, need to be sent to an alternative school where they are taught the value of an education, discipline and appropriate behavior, in addition to the 3 R’s.

If we address the root of the problem, the graduation rate will improve.

Weldon Clark
Liberty