Students must face consequences of bad behavior

Isn't it interesting that Lakewood Ranch has banned kids under the age of 16 from Main Street after 6 p.m.? Why?

Because many kids today are obnoxious, rude and disrespectful. Why? Because their parents made them that way.

Well, hello to my world, aka the world of education. But, unfortunately, we can't ban poor behavior in the classroom. Teachers put up with poor behavior daily. We get little to no help from administration because nobody is allowed to discipline anymore. We are now told that we must only reinforce good behavior and ignore poor behavior.

Well, folks, that ain’t working! There must be consequences for bad behavior. Obviously some parents haven't figured out how to raise respectful, polite children. We’d better get a handle on this quickly. It's overflowing out of the classroom, into our neighborhoods and directly into the long arms of the law.

I believe there is a direct connection between what we see in our classrooms and what we are seeing on the main streets of the USA. This problem will not go away. We have to recognize it and confront it and make some major changes. We are raising a generation of children that don't know the difference between right from wrong.

I thank God for the well-balanced, respectful children with good strong parents, but they are quickly becoming the minority.

This story was originally published July 14, 2017 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Students must face consequences of bad behavior."