We believe that is up to the town's residents to decide and we trust they will use their consciences at the ballot box. What concerns us, however, is the issue of grown-up behavior. For some, the level of rhetoric over the issue has disintegrated from a focus on the issues to an attack on opponents or proponents of extended-day kindergarten. It has become emotional and personal. While flamboyant arguments and political grandstanding make titillating newspaper stories, they do make for mature politics and they do little to teach our children how to behave.
Children learn by example.
We were not impressed recently with the example of the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board, Exeter School Board and the school superintendent when they were criticized by a Rockingham County Superior Court judge for mishandling computer Internet records. Like teen-agers arguing with referees over a call they didn't like, they vociferously continued to defend their bad position and to criticize the court referee like bad sports. We wondered how that must look to the children. We would encourage the Stratham Memorial School parents to set a better example for their children. The moral of this story would be, if you disagree with someone else's point of view, it's not nice to name call or to say you will never play with them again.