OCONEE TEACHER DEFENDS DRUG SEARCH AND OTHER PREVENTIONS

Providing a safe environment for students to learn is the greatest respect
that can be given to our children. The minority side of an issue usually
tends to be the most vocal, so I felt compelled to respond to some of the
letters and columns printed. I have read some catch phrases with very
little substance to back them up in these articles, such as "Guilty until
proven innocent." The only explanation for this headline I could find in
Ben Bartlett's (March 22) column is that preventative measures
automatically imply guilt.

While I cannot speak for other teachers, administrators or the school
system, I can say teachers live to see students succeed. That is the
driving force behind what we do. When a preventative measure is taken, such
as the search, it does not imply guilt. What it does is help ensure our
students are given the safest environment possible to succeed. Specific
students are not targeted. It is handled as a school community, teachers
included. At no time, is guilt assumed or implied.

If it were true that preventative measures implied guilt, then that brings
up a number of issues in our society. Am I implying guilt by watching over
my students as they take a test? Am I assumed guilty when the gate checkers
at sporting events look into a bag I'm carrying into the stadium?

The truth is the preventative measures help protect a student's privacy.
Only students who were chosen by the highly trained dogs were even spoken
to, and they were not automatically assumed guilty. The plain fact is that
weapons on school grounds and drugs are illegal. Trying to keep our school
free of those things is putting our students' safety first. It can alert
parents to issues regarding their children and provide those children with
help to make the right decisions and be successful.

To say Oconee County has lost sight of what it is fighting for in its
schools is an unsubstantiated, ignorant statement made by someone who has
no idea what goes on at our high school. Before criticizing the principles
of what educators spend their lives trying to accomplish, it would be
appropriate to gain some experience in that area. We work hard to help
students be successful as students and people. Do not say we have lost
sight of our goal as educators; there is nothing more offensive.

Tommy Warren, Jr.

OCHS Teacher