Bill Granger’s ideas in “Making the Grade” (Oct. 3) should be considered (because) all people, especially young people, need a sense of community-a sense of shared values and commitment. Unfortunately, however, our society has become a beleaguered victim of rampant individualism. The “only me” genie has been too long out of the bottle.
Uniforms and closed campuses are two simple ideas that could help foster the ideas of common purpose and communal responsibility-good starting points for serious schooling.
Scott E. Sutherland, Palatine
Bill Granger’s “Making the Grade” promotes exactly the kind of ideas that schools should stay away from. As both a feminist and a high school junior, I was disgusted by his suggestions of sexual segregation and closed campuses.
Closed campuses won’t protect teenagers from drugs; they can easily be bought at school if you know the right people. Advocating sexual segregation is an insult and would impede social skills gained by being around members of the opposite sex. The real world is not about gender.
Jenni Sorkin, Buffalo Grove
Bill Granger’s “Making the Grade” made me laugh. He suggests closed campuses and uniforms would raise student grades. I have never read anything so ridiculously old-fashioned.
For goodness sake, what will he suggest next? School boycotts by parents until quality and safety are assured? School vouchers? He wouldn’t mention home schooling as a viable option, would he?
Anthony L. Trendl, Winfield
The administration, faculty and students of Kelly High School are outraged by Bill Granger’s remarks in “Making the Grade.” (He) obviously has not been in or around our school in quite some time.
Since school reform began, our closed campus is backed by a discipline and detention policy adopted by the local school council (resulting in) significantly reduced school absences and cutting.
Our attendance figures have risen dramatically over the last three years. Virtually no authorized students leave our school during lunch periods.
Our local school council adopted a stringent dress code more than two years ago (that) bans sports logo wear, gang colors and any gang insignias.
Gerald F. Bokowy, L.S.C. Teacher Representative
John A. Ruskamp, Ed.D., Assistant Principal
Cecilli Wika, Student Council President
Break a leg
For people who have to use wheelchairs around town, Bill Granger’s broken leg (Chicago Voices, Sept. 26) was a most fortuitous event.
He was able to experience the often-unusable ramps installed-with the best of intentions-by the city.
Why has the Mayor’s Office for Disabled People not inspected the incorrectly installed ramps when they have been brought to that office’s attention? Why has it not taken steps to have the defective ramps repaired to meet the city code standards?
Rolf-Helmut Ehrmann, Park Ridge
Bathroom humor
Marya Smith’s interview with the proofreader (First Person, Sept. 19) brought back memories of a hilarious “mistake” overlooked by proofreaders of a particular Sears catalog.
A prominent headline on a page featuring Sears’ best-selling chemical indoor toilet read “Sears Handy Indoor Toilet.” There was nothing wrong with the headline except for the prominence of the capitalized first letter of each word.
Although the ad produced record sales, it never again ran in that form.
Barney Kingston, Chicago
