This letter is in response to Mark Pantermoller’s letter (March 21) regarding who is to blame when children don’t learn.

I think that Pantermoller may be partially correct when he says that it is the children who are to blame when they do not learn. But as a student and a child myself, I think that he is also wrong. In most ways, it is the children, who yell, pass notes, talk and do other such things; but in some ways, it is also the teacher’s fault.

Sometimes the teacher may be too lenient on the students, or they just do not teach in a way that some kids learn. And, as he said, some kids just don’t care about the education they are so blessed to have.

I am a student who I think is among the top of the class, and I have failed a few classes because of the teacher’s teaching.

The teachers are nice most of the time, but just being nice does not count for their quality of teaching. So I do agree that it is not always the teacher’s fault, but sometimes the children’s, too.

As well as kids and teachers, the parents may be to blame, too. Sometimes it depends on how the kid was raised or the environment in which they were raised. So depending on the kid, parents or teachers, I think they all share an equal amount of blame.

Veronica Manasco

Grade 8

Lawrence Junior High School