Here we go again…another big event in a small town and another chance for locals to take public pot-shots at the media.
As you may have heard on WLVL this morning, I explained to Dialog host Scott Leffler that I’m a bit disgusted with one of Wilson’s resident’s comments:
(… I’m sure some people here) “would want to take some of these reporters to the back of the bus.” — the great Doug Edwards of Randall Road. What a fine choice of words, Doug.
As I told Scott, I can see how some are upset with the Buffalo media swarming in and cornering people on the street or at the entrance to the store — but the media is hardly to blame for this incident or for fanning the fire.
They may seem intense, but you take the good with the bad when it comes to small-town coverage.
Much like Lockport being on the news a lot lately for “bad” news, people weren’t complaining when the Lock City was on almost every night for the MRI contest…
If Edwards and his cohorts were to take a step back for two seconds, thy might see what some have realized is a “teachable moment.” Thanks to the coverage, that’s what’s there for the taking.
You can read more in my column this Sunday.
Sort of related, here’s a preview of a letter to the editor we received today:
I attended the community meeting held at Wilson wearing many hats- a life long community member, a past graduate of Wilson Central, a friend of the arrested teachers, a supportive husband of a middle school teacher who happens to also be a varsity coach, a brother of an elementary teacher, a brother-in-law of another elementary teacher, the son of a past elementary teacher, a concerned citizen sympathetic to the families and athletes directly involved in this unfortunate event, and perhaps most importantly as a parent of three young children.
Looking through one of my son’s past homework assignments with him very recently, he was asked to list the three “R’s”- which to me has always seemed a little misleading, but nonetheless we all understand these to be reading, writing, and arithmetic. Although each of us parents should have something to offer our children on these topics, these extremely important fundamentals are best left to the professionals- the administration and teachers of our schools. Although I am very proud to have been educated in such a fantastic school system, my most influential teachers have been my parents. My mother and father had a list of their own- the four “R’s”- right, wrong, respect, and responsibility. They have made it their life long mission using their faith, instinct, love, and general involvement in our lives, to instill in my siblings, myself, and our children what is right and what is wrong. They have asked that we show respect to them, others in authority, and all human beings on God’s great earth. They have also let us know that we must take responsibility for our own actions. When our actions warranted praise, we received praise. When our actions did not warrant praise, we faced the necessary consequences.
We as parents must instill in our children these very important principles. If we do not, we are not doing our job, and our system will fail. Unfortunately our children will most likely follow, making the outlook for their success- no matter how you would like to define it, look very bleak.
As a society, we have to stop looking for opportunities to pass responsibility on to others and take responsibility ourselves for our own actions. Yes, we entrust our entire school system with the safety of our precious children, which is an extremely daunting task in today’s world, but we cannot step aside from doing our part as parents.
We must trust that our system, which is based on truth, will prevail.
My thoughts and prayers are with all of those involved in this extremely unfortunate situation- the victims and their families, the accused and their families, the administration, the staff, and all the members of our great community.Sincerely,
Michael Seeley
Wilson
