Editorial: Grow up, parents

On a routine basis, educators are forced to face childish, rowdy, even verbally abusive behavior as they attempt to control and cultivate a group of individuals who have yet to grow up.

Oh, and they have classrooms full of students to contend with, too.

Swansea teachers, principals and administrators recently told The Herald News tales of verbally abusive phone calls, threatening confrontations and embarrassing displays of emotion directed at them - amazingly - not from the students, but from their parents.

Indeed, one crude man - apparently lacking the self-control, good sense and sophistication to express his displeasure in an even moderately dignified manner - went so far as to grab his crotch Michael Jackson-style in a public building during a confrontation with Swansea Superintendent Stephan Flanagan.

And this type of behavior is apparently no longer an aberration.

"I'm getting sick and tired of the language, the entitlement, the demands and outrageous expectations," Flanagan said. "No teacher or principal should have to put up with any of this abuse."

Sad to say, the School Department has been faced with such vitriol that administrators now have decided formal action is required. They are drafting a "civility policy," spelling out what constitutes disrespectful, unruly behavior. Disciplinary actions will be enforced on an escalating level, including a written reprimand, forced ending of a meeting and potential police involvement.

Surely, Neanderthals such as the crotch-grabber do not represent the majority of Swansea parents. But, the fact that enough of them exist for the School Department to make a formal response ought to be a source of embarrassment for the town.

Collectively, parents should be ashamed of themselves.