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Topic : 09/19 School Controversies

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Created on : Friday, September 12, 2008, 01:22:29 pm

Author : DrPhilBoard1

Dr. Phil takes on controversial issues that could affect your child’s safety at school. First up, imagine your child’s first day at school and his or her teacher is carrying a concealed weapon. How would you feel about that? One small Texas school district will allow gun-toting teachers. Dr. Phil hears from moms on both sides of this debate, as well as the president of the Texas Federation of Teachers. Then, did you know that almost half of college-aged kids binge drink? That’s why 100 of the nation’s college presidents have signed the Amethyst Initiative, calling for a national discussion about rethinking the legal drinking age. Should kids be allowed to drink legally at 18? An Amethyst board member joins Dr. Phil, along with the national president for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, two university presidents and a family devastated by a drunk-driving tragedy. Where do you side on these debates? Take our poll! Plus, don’t miss a school bus brawl caught on tape. Who's at fault: the student or the bus driver? Join the discussion.

Find out what happened on the show.

As of January, 2009, this message board will become "Read Only" and will be closed to further posting. Please join the NEW Dr. Phil Community to continue your discussions, personalize your message board experience, start a blog and meet new friends.

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makarena

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Touched

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September 13, 2008, 8:25 pm PDT

Drinking age.

Quote From: anniegar

I live in Australia and our drinking age is 18 and the amount of times I hear fromfriends and on the news about the teenage drinking, its a problem with the driving age and drinking ,theamount of times you hear about some one dieing or badly hurt in a car crash then you hear that drinking played a major part in it. These days it seems that you cant have fun without drinking its a shame. please dont change the age as at 18 most teenagers cant handle it. it almost seems cool to get drunk. I hear all the time about how they brag about getting drunk that is.

Thats why they do other things for a buzz until they're old enough to drink.

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manuel

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Angry

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September 13, 2008, 9:14 pm PDT

DO IT REALLY MATTER ANYWAY??

Lets face the facts everyone, we all know that teens know how to get beer and where and if you live in small town, he** you could even get a friendly cop to get you some, We all know that rasing it wont help at all, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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manuel

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Angry

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September 13, 2008, 9:25 pm PDT

O' NO

Yea, that is all we need some teacher with a gun, Lets just think about it for a sec. ok, Who in their right mind would want this? Now i know that we all think of teachers as respected people, who are just the queen of the state, but all you teens out their know the turth, The stuff that teachers do after school, smoking pot, drinking, comming to school hi, yes it acctually happens.... yes yes yes it does,, so that all we a pi**ed teacher hi having a problem with a student................................................... IT HONESTLY HAPPENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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girls2nana

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Happy

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September 14, 2008, 4:57 am PDT

09/19 School Controversies

Quote From: rae_raye

Hi everyone,

I've just read about the Amethyst Initiative and how college presidents would like there to be a discussion concerning the age limit on drinking alcohol.

The legal age in the UK is 18 and this means that our college students are legal to drink when they go off to university. Does this stop or reduce binge drinking? I don't believe so in fact, when I attended university (I went late at 21) there were so many students binge drinking there would often be altercations between the bar staff and the kids!

Here in the UK many people believed that bringing in the "24hr drinking" law would reduce binge drinking and it hasn't. Many people (myself included) believe the legal age should be raised to 21 just like it is currently in the US.

A lot of my friends wasted their student loans on going out and partying and a few even had to drop out of college all together. I believe the legal age to drink should be set at 21 as the majority of 18 year olds do not know the full extent of the damage that can be caused by binge drinking.

This is a response to the lady in the UK. I Have to disagree ON THE AGE Limit on Drinking ONLY , because I think the age 21 young people are responsible enough. Sure there may a lot that are but what about the ones that just don't know when to quit drinking? If I was the final judge in this matter the Law would be "NO DRINKING UNTIL AGE 26", this way kids can then grow more INTO ADULTS, to be more responsible about drinking , don't end up in bars and behind the wheel drunk..That is where a lot of the young kids die from is drinking & driving or killing there friends or other innocent people.

I don't know what kind of famiy background you come from but, one thing I know is true if your poor you sure kind find the booze & drugs when you are very young I tried both at a young age. I didn't care too much for the drugs as I did for the booze. I am now Sober 8yrs I am in my 50's and loving my new life...

IF anyone thinks for one second BOOZE OR DRUGS can't take OVER MY life, you must be an idiot...

THANKS FOR READING

L. from chgo

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girls2nana

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Happy

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September 14, 2008, 5:02 am PDT

TEACHERS & GUNS & KIDS DRINKING

Quote From: ljtweston

Like a crazed killer......every once in a while there are crazed teachers that pop up.....they are caught molesting kids or abusing kids. Teachers are stressed already because of the job.......what if a teacher had a really bad day.....then, a disrespectfull student pushes that teacher.......and that teacher had a gun!

Let's not even give that senario even the thought of happening.

GIVING A STRESS OUT LOW PAYING TEACHER A GUN,

IS LIKE PASSING THE LAW TO LET KIDS DRINK WHEN

THEY ARE 18,,,,WHERE IS THE LOGIC!!!!!!!!!!!

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moodyafbwife

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Worried

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September 14, 2008, 7:28 am PDT

Seriously?!

The legal drinking age is 21 as of this moment. Sometimes as the wife of a man in the military I meet some very young men and women and wonder how it is that they can possibly take a bullet for this country , and yet, the aren't old enough to have a drink. As a mother I'm tickled to pieces that the legal age is 21. I have a son that has just turned 16 and in and of itself is a challenge. I don't want alcohol to become legal for children still going through puberty. Can you imagine?! I'm not sure what the happy medium is here or if we will ever find one to suit all parties in this campaign to end underage binge drinking. As to the guns and teachers, well I grew up In Wilbarger county, Texas. If you would do some research first then you might very well understand the reasoning behind what is being allowed. I left there ten years ago when things got bad in that county and haven't returned to live there since. However, most of the folks there are decent folks and have more than enough common sense to share with the rest of us. There are meth factories springing up within eyesight of this tiny country school. Its a good fifteen minutes away from first responders on a day they can get there in time to help. There have been some provisions made and standards set before these teachers can even begin to think of carrying a gun. Let's not forget that teacher or student alike, if the will to do damage to another person is there it will happen regardless of the law and whom is carrying what legally. However, as a parent I cringe at the thought that this is happening at all. The law shuts down the meth houses, however another it replaces hours later. The county is overworked and under budgeted. I don't know that there is a reliable solution at this time for the problems that this school is facing and the lack of manpower to make it happen. Keep in mind that this little school is about fifteen miles from civilization. In the thirty four years that I have known the people in that county and that area they have never had knee jerk reactions to anything. It used to drive us crazy as kids and then later as adults that sometimes the slow and methodical way they have of doing things was so inconvenient to all of us. I truly believe that the rest of their justifications for allowing the teachers to carry concealed weapons are sound ones. I'm not sure its a great long term solution, but if it helps keep meth-heads from hurting our kids then, by all means, go ahead. I cannot recall any instances going to school "in town" or knowing kids going to school in Harrold that can site events of teachers blowing up and losing their cool. I'm not worried about that. My concern would be for the teachers and students if someone did get past and the gun were taken from them by a stranger. That tiny little school offers a great education to those students, a better one than the school "in town" . Maybe finding funds and other ways to protect our children should be the next step. Until that time however, maybe just maybe the public would do its research, know the issues, and try to help find ways to fix this issue for funding and personnel.

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mari1owl

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Good

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September 14, 2008, 12:50 pm PDT

Drinking Age

I am NOT in favor of young people drinking but, if the age were lowered it would take a lot of the glamor and excitement away and fewer would be as anxious to drink. I do know that when you tell young people they cannot have or do something that is what they will desire most!
I think it is worth a try for a few years. My guess is that there would be a drinking surge in the beginning and then it would calm down significantly.

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rndmom

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Stressed

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September 14, 2008, 4:16 pm PDT

School Bus Drivers

I am a school bus driver and parents need to realize we can't always be watching the kids. Our job is to drive the students safely to and from school, which means our eyes should be on the road. If the students were following the rules on the school bus, there wouldn't be any fights. Children are not on these buses long, and it is a shame that you have the few bad apples who can't control themselves for the short period of time. I am a parent myself, and my daughter knows she best not misbehave on the bus or there will be serious consequences! It is the parents who don't pay enough attention to their children or don't feel their child can do no wrong whose children are misbehaving, I have gotten to know the students I transport and they respect me because I respect them. The students I had last year from the middle school would sit up front and talk to me until it was time to pull out of the school lot, because I listened to them and encouraged them when things were going wrong for them. I don't have my same run as last year, but when I see some of the students they wave and say "hi, we miss you this year!" They learned in the beginning of the year, if anyone acted out, I would pull the bus over. I have been known to take back bus loads back to the school. There needs to be respect from the students!

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moodyafbwife

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Worried

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September 15, 2008, 5:57 am PDT

get a grip

Quote From: mari1owl

I am NOT in favor of young people drinking but, if the age were lowered it would take a lot of the glamor and excitement away and fewer would be as anxious to drink. I do know that when you tell young people they cannot have or do something that is what they will desire most!
I think it is worth a try for a few years. My guess is that there would be a drinking surge in the beginning and then it would calm down significantly.

If you want to deglamorize alcohol and drugs try talking to your kids and take them to a hospital to see the damage it causes. The living and learning when it comes to a life, being it their own or someone they might kill is a preposterous way to parent or even be a responsible adult. Some things are not best left to experience by the inexperienced. As a parent of a teenager only a short time away from being the magical age of 18, I cannot imagine the laws allowing him to drink at 18. Certain indulgences are for mature adults, at the very least someone old enough to have passed through puberty. Its a ridiculous notion to even consider it acceptable that there "would be a drinking surge in the beginning and then it would calm down significantly." A surge of any kind where this issue is concerned is not okay, uless its a surge down from drinking. Lives will get lost, families destroyed, children pulled from wrecked automobiles...teenagers have a hard time understanding much beyond their own selves and insular world they have lived in.

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danielamado

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Happy

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worried

September 15, 2008, 7:18 am PDT

I Also Work For The School District

As far as teachers carrying guns to school goes......I'm against it, but I'm also for protecting the students and teachers. I think that if the teachers carry firearms the school may be better protected, but whoever is carrying a firearm MUST QUALIFY!!! They MUST go through extensive background checks with the police dept., FBI, psychologist and ATF. They MUST be capable of handling themselves above and beyond normal people. They won't be able to react to just any situation. PLUS, teachers who carry guns might be putting a target on them because kids will carry guns to school no matter what. I really think the better situation for this is to upgrade your security. It may look stupid but put metal detectors at each door. Do random bus and car checks, but I don't think teachers with guns overall should be allowed. However, I do know teachers who are capable of carrying firearms.

The drinking age, I think, should be pushed up to 25. Kids who are younger who want to drink only does it for the partying. No one really cares about the consequences of drinking. So instead of letting young people drink and drive and kill innocent people then why not let them start later to drink. Maybe by then they would think twice about how much fun drinking really is. If the accident rate for drunk drivers killing innocent people were very minimum here in Las Vegas then I wouldn't care, but it seems to me that innocent lives are taken from drunk drivers and the drunk drivers only come out of the car with minor injuries. That really frustrates me when innocent people die for the stupidity of others. If you don't care about your life then take your own life. Don't go out of your way to drink, drive and kill innocent people. I would be happy if they banned alcohol PERIOD. It would save this country a whole lot of problems. Or if you wanna keep alcohol around then limit the amount people are allowed to drink. So if a driver gets pulled over for drinking while intoxicated then the bartender or the person who sold that alcohol to you should also be responsible. I believe the more strict our laws for alcohol, the better it would be.

The bus situation is the bus drivers fault. I know some of the bus drivers are older adults but if you can stop it......stop it. if you can't you should call the cops and try to handle the situation. Do whatever you have to do to resolve the problem. If you don't do anything then it's the bus drivers fault.

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