A Reader Writes ....

I recieved the following comment for moderation on this blog:

I had a horrible experience with ******** as a young woman.

******** went and badgered me about a poem that I wrote about another young lady like myself who died from cancer.

My poem about this student has touched many lives...

But ******** made me feel that I had done something wrong by writing it...

Its a good thing I didn't take ********'s opinion to heart.

For if I did, I would not have been inspired to Donate Blood, Join the Bone Marrow Registry, reach out to a young woman who had leukemia who became my friend and touch many many hearts with my story.

The sister of the girl that I wrote my poem about thinks that my poem is beautiful...

But ********'s words are very hurtful and insensitive to me to this very day and I vow to NEVER be like ******** when I become a teacher...

I never liked the idea of censorship, but I couldn't bring myself to publish this comment under the teacher entry to which it was directed.

Many teachers exposed their fears and prejudices in the classroom, often with hurtful results to the students. I don't think that I found myself in that situation. At least I don't remember it.

It is regrettable that a certain teacher marred an event in your life that has profound significance to you. You have every right to be judgemental.

However, you have to understand that different folks were value-programmed differently. And in the context of the 1970's, you have to remember that in Bob Dylan's words, the times were a-changing. I remember being told that a certain graduating class of priests from the Saint Augustine's Seminary in the mid-1960's has now lost almost 90% of its priests who actually quit the priesthood in the intervening years. It was a time of major social upheaval and those who were disturbed by the shifting ground, clung more tightly to the value programming that provided significance in their own lives. It certainly is no justification for what happened in your case, but rather a possible explanation.

I am sorry that you had a negative experience, but it sounds that you have moved on, and gained positively from it. Time has a way of healing all wounds, and I hope that in the years to come, you look fondly on the education experiences that shaped you as a person.