Future teachers weigh in on hot topics in education

Twenty-one freshmen in Southeast Missouri State University's College of Education offered quick takes on everything from teacher pay to iPads on Wednesday as part of Kent Library's monthly Athenaeum Series.

Brooke Hildebrand Clubbs, director of health communication and instructor in the Department of Communication Studies, said this was a good chance for her students to share their thoughts with the community.

"I was really excited to have them do this because it gets them out of the classroom," she said. "I think sometimes they start to think that [they] only give speeches in ... class. ... Especially for educators, they're going to be giving speeches every day, multiple times, for the rest of their careers, so I think it's a good experience for them."

Kenna Wofford said she is in favor of a recently passed law allowing Missouri school districts to select teachers or other employees to carry concealed weapons or pepper spray as "school protection officers."

"After the devastating effects of Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, I believe that the push to arm teachers in the classroom could be highly effective in dissuading shooters from attacking schools, seeing as though there would be an effective defensive system in play at all times," Wofford wrote in an email.

Emily Farrow spoke about intimacy policies in schools, some of which ban high-fives and hugging at the elementary level.

"I think it's over the top," Farrow said. "They're teaching kids that showing empathy or sympathy for anything, or being excited for someone, is wrong and it can hurt them in the long run."

Megan Cannovo said teachers should be paid more, because they help produce professionals for all fields. The average teacher salary in Missouri, as of December, was $46,757 a year, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"Teachers are underappreciated," Cannovo said. "The time they put into the job is more than others and they are paid less."

Mackenzie Williams said she thinks students should have to take sex education classes in high school because of the high rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. "I feel like everybody needs to learn about it and learn about preventions," Williams said.

Missouri ranked 21 of 51 states, including the District of Columbia, in 2011 on teen birthrates among females ages 15 to 19, according to the national Office of Adolescent Health. Sexually transmitted disease rates also have come down, according to statistics from the Cape Girardeau County Health Department.

Grace Schwendemann said she believes students should be offered a chance to use iPads in class. Southeast's College of Education allows education students to rent a 32-gigabyte iPad Air for their coursework.

"I know money can come into play where it can interfere with that opportunity, but they are a great tool for learning and they are very beneficial," Schwendemann said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO

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Cases of sexually transmitted diseases

2013

• Chlamydia: 371
• Gonorrhea: 141
• Syphilis: 3

2014 (through September)

• Chlamydia: 300
• Gonorrhea: 74
• Syphyllis: 1

Source: Cape Girardeau County Health Department