kim

Paul, I read about the issue over on a website called reddit. If you want to see what some of the people over there are saying, you can visit http://reddit.com/info/v6h2/comments . One of the most encouraging ones, I think, reads: “It frightens me, and I'm a church-goin' Christian. If this guy was teaching in my kid's school, I'd be fighting for his dismissal.” I want to thank your family and I hope that you know there are people all over the world rooting for you, watching this story unfold. I found this website while doing a bit of digging to find out more about what happened. When I read in the NY Times article that Matt’s actions were not well-received in the community nor in his school, I was appalled. When I read that he was losing friends over this debate, I was heartbroken. I'm a university student, and in my entire academic career, I have never experienced a situation like this. If this were happening at any level of education in my area, from kindergarten to elementary to middle to high school, this would be considered completely unacceptable by my community---by Christians, atheists, Muslims alike. A proper high school does not indoctrinate its students, and a caring community does not stand for behaviour like this. High school is where young adults develop the skills to be analytic, critical, logical, and creative thinkers. Students should be taught how to evaluate, rationalize, and make their own decisions based on careful consideration. Students should not be preached at. I want to commend you for filling in the gaps where a poor educational system appears to have failed. It looks like Matt possesses all of these qualities. He’s obviously a smart kid. Matt is lucky to have such an astute and compassionate upbringing---one that, unfortunately, many students in Kearny have seemed to miss out on. I want to extend my utmost gratitude to Matt for having the guts to go through with this when it’s such a sensitive issue. It seems that Matt has generally remained away from media attention---and rightfully so, since the role he played is not the issue under contention---but I can’t help but wonder how he’s doing. I hope he doesn’t find himself being too ostracized at school for what has happened, and I hope he doesn’t feel alienated in the community. I really hope that he understands that there are people all over the world who know he’s done the right thing, and I hope he doesn't end up regretting this decision in the future. I also hope that, when he graduates from high school, he finds himself an excellent post-secondary education---far, far away from Kearny.