Petition Against Proposed Derry Township School Board Policy No. 824 Until Changes Are Made

HHS class of 2014.

I liked being able to go to my teachers if I needed help with something. They were there for me when I was having a rough day.

As a freshman of HHS, I have made very valuable relation ships with teachers which have really benefitted me. Without those relationships, my experience would have been less meroable and beneficial to me as a student and as a human being.

I've had some wonderful teachers and this "rule" isn't allowing students to make relationships with a teacher who they can talk to. This will make a little bit of a difference

Some of my fondest moments of public school are of the teachers I had and the appropriate personal moments we shared. I would hate for my children to not have the same experience. It the job of the parent to teach their children what is and isn't appropriate in relationships with adults. We need to give them the skills to protect themselves. We can't rely on our hopes that kids will never encounter an adult who acts in appropriately.

Let's not treat well respected teachers as if they are all criminals. They play an important role in the lives of our children and should continue to do so without overreaching policies.

I am a HHS Class of 1999 graduate and a child of two teachers. This policy is sure to have negative effects on both the school staff and the students. The meaningful, trusting relationships developed between student and staff members are what help shape so many lives and are often what we remember most from our school years.

Let's use some common sense. I'm all for protecting all children, but I also know that the teacher-student relationship is important. Students spend a lot of time with their teachers (especially in elementary, where my daughter attends) and in that time, they build a rapport that makes them feel more comfortable sharing issues that could be bothering them. Guidance counselors certainly have an important role, and there are certain situations where they are the best person to speak with the student. But many times, their teacher is the person that the student feels most comfortable sharing what might be bothering them. Please continue to protect our students but don't punish current and future DTSD students by making this policy restrict the students from positive experiences that help make then a successful student and ultimately adult.

As a high school graduate I myself can say with great certainty that if it were not for the ears owl convections/ relationships I formed with my high school science teachers. I would never have believed I could have made it through two years of college biology and chemistry.

If this were the case when I was in school, I can promise you my life would be dramatically different today in a negative way. I still have relationships with many past teachers who have gotten me through a lot and were always there for me without every crossing any professional lines. This is a horrible, ridiculous idea.

If someone doesn't want to be called a name they can go to a higher authority themselves.

I wrote a journalism article about how good relationships with teachers can increase academic scores, so these rules would do the opposite of that.

Teachers are not computers or robots. They are humans with human emotions and care for the children in their classrooms. I will not stand-by and see our teachers and students punished with a policy like this because there was one bad apple in an orchard somewhere. Our children need the ability to build a relationship of trust with their teachers. Policies like these will keep awesome people from pursuing teaching as a career.

My high school teachers at Hershey High helped me more than most of them know. Please allow the teachers to be the role models they need to be and give the students access to them as valuable resources for their lives, in and out of the classroom.

I fully understand that the district is trying to protect us kids, but a line must be drawn somewhere. This is ridiculous in the fact that communication between students and teachers is going to be unnecessarily difficult. If a child misses a day of school or doesn't understand something, the process should be as simple as sending the email. This proposed plan will hurt students and teachers. Remember education is IMPORTANT, and with this plan it will be damaged.

I, a class of 2014 HHS alumni, am strongly against the new proposed policy. I faced many struggles in high school and did seek help at the guidance office. I had an awful relationship with my counselor and did not feel comfortable speaking with her. If I was not allowed to speak with whom I chose, my depression would have become more threatening. I strongly urge everyone in support of the new policy to reconsider.

Having teachers that we as students can have good relationships with is extremely beneficial in our highschool experience. While I feel that preventing inappropriate actions from teachers is important, taking away any form of relationship is not necessary or beneficial. Most colleges ask for atleast two letters of recommendation along with our applications. How are students supposed to build positive relationships with teachers to in turn get these letters of recommendation with this policy in the way?

I cherish the personal relationships I had formed with my teachers over my time spent at Hershey High School. Teachers are not only a valuable tool for formal education but also for personal growth and development, and this proposal seems to take that away.

I trust our teachers and our students.

This is going to hurt many of our students. They need to be able to build a trusting relationship with their teachers. They see most of their teachers 5 days a week, they only see their Guidance Counselors maybe 2 times a year. My children are lucky to have good Guidance Counselors but they are even luckier to have such great teachers that care about them not only as students but as young men and women. I have 4 children in the district right now and I LOVE their teachers. I love knowing if my child has a problem their teacher is there to help them. What happens when their is a student that is thinking about hurting themselves and does because they felt like they had no one to talk too. If anyone this will not happen then you have been hiding under a rock this past year. How many suicides have to happen? I am not talking about just are school district. This is happening all over. Our students need to know they can go talk to an teacher for help and our teachers need to be able to talk to the students if they feel there is a problem.