A teacher’s point of view

A recent letter to the editor telling me to stick to teaching was hardly in good form but it does deserve a response because of the wrong impression that is presented of teaching. As a social studies teacher, I am responsible for teaching about American history, economics, government and the expectations of American society. However, the role of a teacher is no longer confined to the classroom. In the words of Ms. Barbara Gillis, the 1999 CNMI Teacher of the Year: “As we go from the 19th century factory model of schools to a 21st century model of prevention, teachers must see their role as being bigger than the classroom. We must learn to, and be willing to become leaders, and work with other educational professionals and community leaders to educate our politicians, the media, village leaders, parents, students and one another for what needs to be done for our children” and society. I added society because it is the ultimate goal of teachers to influence the future improvements of our entire society through our students.

All of my letters to the editor, with the exception of rebuttals, were written to educate people on issues from an “objective” point of view. But some people seem to miss the point or the message and focus on me. I hope that in the future people will be more cognizant of the issue and stop writing about me because I’m not the issue. Replies that are clearly addressed to an individual or me will only serve to promote the notoriety of the person and does very little for the real issue at hand. I had to learn myself that it does no good to attack an individual by name with letters to the editor—which is why you won’t see any names in this letter. It’s the message that counts.

As children in school we can all testify to the importance of giving credence to a teacher’s point of view. It’s not that teachers are better than anyone else but it is teachers who develop our presidents, governors, senators, representatives, mayors and all the people who contribute to our society. Most of these people still respect a teacher’s point of view. But at the same time there are those who feel that now that they’ve reached adulthood, what a teacher says does not matter anymore. So I hope the person who chose to attack me will consider that he also respected a teacher’s point of view at one time in his life, that is, if he went to school.

In another letter to me in the news, it asked me to allow more time for the development of the CNMI’s own economic models because “we are not starving yet.” Well, from a teacher’s point of view it is my job to educate our children and the general public about the dynamics and ramifications of our social and economic decisions. Children are naturally more receptive and adaptive to change than adults, which is why the quality of life continues to improve throughout the world, as these children become adults. Expectations are constantly changing and I know it will take time but I have a right to participate and not just sit and watch from the sidelines like I was told to do.

As a teacher, for me to sit idly by and watch our society repeat a mistake and do something that is contrary to economic theory would make me a poor and non-contributing citizen to the development of our society. The CNMI has never experienced a depression and it is very apparent that many people don’t realize how much we are flirting with an economic depression. There is no real plan in place to truly stabilize our economy. Yes, it is primarily the indigenous’ people that live on these islands. Yes, they will be the ones to suffer the most from wrong decisions. Yes, the reputation of the islands rests on the indigenous people. But the people of the islands are also part of the bigger picture of a nation that has certain expectations of everyone regardless of their location on the mainland or on an island. We can’t see the big picture for the ocean between us. I hope people get what I mean.

But if the indigenous people really think so differently from the mainlanders, then why would you ever want to become a part of America? There is a saying: “Be careful of what you ask for because you just might get it” and all the ramifications that come with it. We can’t just want federal dollars and not be a part of the federal team. It doesn’t work that way. We must learn to take the bitter with the sweet because they can’t be separated but we can become more adaptive in dealing with our differences as opposed to fighting the expectations of “our father in Washington.” The reason we can’t vote for president and don’t have representation in Congress is because we didn’t bargain for it in the Covenant. Our primary focus was strictly federal aid and dollars. Guam didn’t have an option but we did and it’s our fault, not the feds. We need to stop using this voting for president and representation for an excuse and grow up and get on with the program. Our excuses only serve as drawbacks that help to perpetuate our position.

As a teacher of economics, I can tell you time is not our friend now. The garment industry is going to change dramatically and we can’t wait until our well runs dry to look for water because it is a fact that people will drink their own urine if they are thirsty enough. Any teacher and the average informed citizen knows that we need to do something now when we can be more rational, but to wait for hell to break loose is totally unacceptable for me and many others that have encouraged me to continue writing. Even a priest has encouraged me to continue writing about issues that affect our Commonwealth, so I really don’t give any credence to anyone that wants me to only teach in the classroom.

As for Pagan, we must try—its just that simple. I truly have compassion for the people of Pagan but at the same time they should have compassion for the rest of the Commonwealth that may have to depend on them.

I love the CNMI as much as anyone else because I chose to live here, be a contributor and hopefully die and be buried here in America’s Commonwealth. I would never promote something that I think would be detrimental to our society. I am only presenting a teacher’s point of view to the people of the CNMI. We have been one people since the creation of the Commonwealth; we just need to figure out how to get all of us going in the same direction and attacking individuals really doesn’t help at all. So I hope that someone will have learned a lesson from this teacher’s point of view. One people, one direction.

Ambrose M. Bennett
Kagman High School