Editor, Commonwealth:
Friday’s editorial by Tim Kalich (“State doesn’t overtest, schools do”) and op-ed column by Wyatt Emmerich (“Mistreating the mentally ill”) were two of the best, and highlight two pressing societal concerns.
The recent columns by Emmerich on the mistreatment of mentally ill prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility are so on target. The maltreatment alleged is horrifying.
I cringe whenever a mentally ill person commits a horrible, evil act, sometimes caused by the mental illness, and television commentators call the perpetrator a monster, a freak, and all sorts of other names. These events happen rarely, because most mentally ill people do not commit crimes, but they do happen.
Yes, the person who commits a crime must be punished and kept from harming anyone else, but in a way that acknowledges the underlying illness, and with treatment provided. It is difficult and dangerous work, and we must pay people enough to want to work in these facilities and give them a decent amount of training.
It’s a shame that our state must be forced to do what is right, but unfortunately it has been the case many times. I understand the difficulties of spreading money around, but I, for one, would pay a little more in state taxes to have better facilities for mentally ill people when they need help, and for other important needs, such as better pay for social workers, teachers and law enforcement personnel.
Many Americans are far from understanding mental illness as an illness instead of a character disorder, and so much more must be done to give these individuals and their families help and options.
Kalich’s editorial on the school-testing situation was spot on as well. The curriculum in many public schools has been narrowed to teaching what will be covered on the test. As a former foreign language teacher, I was thankful my students were not subject- tested, and I could teach my subject in a way I felt benefitted my students.
Rather than better educating students, Mississippi schools are majoring on the test. The testing culture is not helpful to students’ total education. They deserve much more.
Thankfully, Kalich and Emmerich are not turning their heads from these important issues, and neither should the citizens of Mississippi.
Ruth Jensen
McCarley
