Letters: Bridge fit for last century

The ageing Dublin Street Bridge

STEPHEN Palmer is determined to keep his treasured Dublin Street Bridge alive and effective forever, despite populations upstream from that bridge spreading and changing in many aspects over the past 102 years.

If it is so relevant to the 21st century, how come he no longer wears his school uniform?
The bridge may well be safe, but safe and adequate to a different century are two hugely different things.

That begs the question: How often does he use the Dublin Street Bridge to travel to and from work without the ability to time those crossings to overnight when there are no bottlenecks?

ELIZABETH STILES-DAWE
Whanganui

Teachers want it all now

I just don't get it.

Yes, good teachers are vital and they should be valued. But, hang on, they put up with devaluation for over 30 years and now they are up in arms ... we want it all now.

I feel it is unreasonable to expect any government to catch up on decades of neglect immediately. Why do they consider themselves more important than our junior doctors and all the other historically neglected workers of Aotearoa NZ?

And, if they are so very valuable, why are we still getting kids leaving school illiterate?
One high school teacher told me that my moko would fail maths. I asked if her title was truly "teacher", and if the pupil left her class without achieving, who was the real failure?

A truly dedicated teacher is a jewel beyond value, one who leaves their mark on many generations and improves our society immensely. Unfortunately, from what I have observed throughout my own children's school life and that of my mokos, there are far too few of them. Result, thousands of school leavers who believe themselves to be failures, which is a huge contributor to many of our social problems.

DENISE LOCKETT
Whanganui

Boost social services

I would suggest the way forward for teachers is not so much to lobby for themselves but to lobby Government to bolster social services dealing with disadvantaged families and children.

This bolstering was addressed to a degree in the Budget, and what it will help with, though more assistance is needed, is to take the large proportion of time teachers spend being social workers, and place that responsibility rightly in the hands of the appropriate social agencies.

If this brings the desired outcomes, then most of the grievances teachers have may be resolved and a freeing-up of themselves to actually teach seems a likely outcome.
Teachers didn't pursue the career to be social workers and do the job best left to the relevant agencies. It's not fair on them or the education of the children they are tasked officially and only to educate.

PAUL BABER
Aramoho

Pious posturing

The various contributions to the daily column Thought for today reinforce the need to question opinions propounding an ideology that looks away from the actual world and focuses on mystical irrelevancies.

This may serve as a comforting ritual for some, but it´s really only preaching to the choir, because what we read here does not pronounce on the actual nature of life.

To answer a wider need, they could provide leadership in the way we think about the environment and our responsibilities towards it.

They could address our relationship with, and survival in, our actual world — like how to respond to threats, from pollution to climate change.

If they were to be relevant to today, they would have to consist of more than pious posturing.

H. NORTON
Kaitoke

Witches and warlocks

If you're not watching Fox News, you're missing the best show on TV. Shades of medieval Europe. Witches and warlocks.

But there is only one real warlock (magician) in the show which is now being revealed.

All of the others actors are pretenders, and Trump will triumph. And all the pretenders may end up being impeached and out of work or locked up.

POTONGA NEILSON
Whanganui

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