AndrewBlakeJuneau, WI – In the wake of the Florida school shooting, a Wisconsin sheriff is saying parents need to instill respect for authority in their children and discipline their children.
He added that more gun control “will do nothing more than place a very small band aid on a much bigger problem.”
Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt wrote the column March 1 and it was posted on the Dodge County Facebook page.
WITI-TV reported on Sheriff Schmidt’s post.
Sheriff Schmidt said gun control won’t solve the problem and wondered why children brought hunting rifles in their vehicles years ago and there were not as much violence back then as today.
“I think perhaps we are not evaluating the true root cause which is obviously very complex. We must make efforts to change our society as a whole,” Schmidt said. “It’s my belief that the root cause starts with our youth lacking basic skills including respect for authority figures like parents and teachers, the ability to cope with conflict and the ability to handle rejection.”
Sheriff Schmidt pointed to a culture that awards participation trophies as creating an environment where children aren’t equipped with dealing with future disappointments.
“When youth are not taught how to handle difficult situations, they must find their own way to cope, which without guidance may be result in unhealthy or even dangerous future behavior,” Sheriff Schmidt wrote.
Parents should not be abusive, but need to not rush to defend their children when teachers discipline them, he said.
“Teachers need to have the support of parents when they make disciplinary decisions and parents need to resist the urge of running to the defense of their children when a teacher feels the need to discipline,” Sheriff Schmidt wrote. “It undermines their authority and will likely be treated as an example for actions toward others in authority in the future.”