Letter to the editor: Taking care of the whole child

Public school administrations and school boards, now smitten by the whole-child teaching approach and wanting to stay in touch, really don’t seem to know or care all that much, until they get bitten by the money and funding crunch.

The whole-child approach has been in child care programs for decades to meet all the needs of all the students, for all ages and stages. These areas of needs are health, safety, engagement, support, and civic or ethical challenges.

The truth is, our young students are not all healthy or safe, not all engaged or supported, and certainly not civically or ethically challenged at all.

Best wishes, public school administrations and school boards — it’s not too late to get on board and redirect the resources, instead of just following the money sources.

Please learn and remember the words of Carl Jung, a father of behavioral psychology: “You are what you do, not just what you say you’ll do.” Also, if you are going to say, “Children are a product of their environment,” then do more for our environment.

Dennis Smiddle

Canonsburg

The writer is a retired Pennsylvania child care licensing representative.