Student is proud to attend safe Freehold Intermediate School

I am writing regarding the articles in your paper about the Freehold Borough Inter-mediate School. I will be attending eighth grade next year and have been attending borough schools all my life. Throughout this time I have had nothing but good experiences with our school system. It bothers me when I see bad things written about the borough. These stories just add to the myth that the borough is a bad place to live.

While the incidents reported in your paper did happen, they are a rare occurrence. I walk the halls and attend classes every day. In my eight years in school I have witnessed four or five "fights." Most of these were push and shove and were quickly stopped by staff members. While you would think that the common causes of fights would be bullying or discrimination, it’s mostly just kids fooling around and not knowing when to stop. I’ve witnessed many disagreements that lead to pushing and shoving, and most of these happened between friends.

As for your opinion that there is "a staff problem, or issues of a deeper social nature," the teachers are always in the lunchroom and in the hallways; and fights I have seen and heard of have been between students of the same race. Also, not only are the teachers available to break up fights, they waste no time when they have to. Normally a teacher is there before the first punch is thrown. In my opinion, our school is as safe as any other, and I have no reason to fear for my safety.

In every school district you always have your " bad kids," the ones who look for trouble and cause problems. That’s why my school shouldn’t be considered any better or worse than any other. I believe it’s the parents’ responsibility to teach their children right from wrong and what’s acceptable behavior.

We have punishment for bad behavior in our school, but some kids just don’t care if they get disciplined. This makes it difficult to give them an adequate punishment and make them think twice about their behavior.

In my school I’m not afraid to walk the halls, go to the lunchroom or walk home. I know that if I ever need help with anything concerning my safety, all of the staff members are available to help me. They are always walking the halls and visiting the classrooms, including the principal and the dean of students. In a school our size, three or four incidents of violence doesn’t "paint a disturbing picture" of our school. How many incidents do all of the districts around us have?

From what my friends and I can see, and we go there every day, there isn’t a real danger or control problem in the Freehold Intermediate School.

Kristina Berg, 13

Freehold Borough