We parents would like to extend our portion of Sept. 3, 2008, letter to the editor titled \u201cOutages and sleepy children\u201d written by Ms. Emmy Rios from Tanapag, Saipan. We parents were captured and glad that a concerned parent actually felt the sufferings of her children as well as families in the CNMI affected by CUC\u2019s power outages. As many parents agree with Ms. Rios\u2019 concerns, the Board of Education members should critically look into this matter and pursue previous discussions of opening school one week later or Sept. 18, 2008. At least, by then, as already planned, CUC\u2019s power will be restored. The Board of Education\u2019s decision to open the school as scheduled on Sept. 8, 2008, will face more problems even before the first session is completed. Do we need more problems? With the current CUC power outages, children will not perform well or participate in their classroom studies as expected. Children will be restless, sleepy, and lack the concentration to learn. Besides, they are prone to lapses of attention and responsiveness, lack of motivation, and behavioral problems in the classroom. Do we need teachers, counselors, and even the principal to call parents in for parent-teacher conference because of our children\u2019s behavioral problems in the classroom? <\/p>\n
The Board of Education members should be concerned about our students\u2019 needs and not let them suffer more in these times of needless sufferings. Just imagine what problems will arise, affecting student performance, participation, productivity, interest, and learning. This is not what we want our children to go through, especially when it comes to our children\u2019s\u2019 education. Whose voices are not heard here? It\u2019s the children. We as parents want our children to go to school to learn, not to suffer from a lack of concentration due to the lack of sleep at night. PSS Board members, as parents, we ask that you be compassionate to our children\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
According to most of the children we\u2019ve spoken to, including our own children, they are unhappy with the recurring power outages as it becomes very hot and dark in their homes. As parents, we try to accommodate our children\u2019s needs everytime the power goes off but majority of homes in the CNMI are in the low income levels and don\u2019t have water tanks and generators. Lucky are those who don\u2019t have to suffer like most families do. Unfortunately, as parents, we can only do as much to take care of our children\u2019s needs. It\u2019s bad enough that when the power goes off, there\u2019s no water. So, how are the children supposed to prepare themselves in the morning for school? Of course, they need water to shower, brush their teeth, and water to wash their hands after breakfast. So, what do you think is best for our children? <\/p>\n
We need the Board of Education to reconsider opening classes on Sept. 18, 2008, as previously proposed. More importantly, CUC\u2019s power has to be restored first before sending our children to school. As parents, we are also asking the support of the entire community of the CNMI, the Governor and Lt. Governor, and the elected officials to join with us and help our children, who are victims of needless suffering.<\/p>\n
CUC\u2019s power outages are also the children\u2019s talk nowadays. It\u2019s the children\u2019s business, too. Just ask any child what major problems we are now suffering in the CNMI. In that, we\u2019ll leave you to their response.<\/p>\n
In closing, we stand by our children to voice their concerns to the whole community and the government. So, everyone, let\u2019s come together and try the best we can to accommodate to our children\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
Mae Benavente-Salas, San Antonio, Saipan
\nRita Siren, Koblerville, Saipan
\nJuanita Izawa, Kagman, Saipan
\nJulita Sablan, Chalan Kanoa, Saipan
\nRoman Reyes, Kannat Tabla, Saipan
\nBernie Pangelinan, Kagman, Saipan
\nWinnie Taitano, Tanapag, Saipan
\nMark Flores, Gualo Rai, Saipan
\nMartin Igitol, Dandan, Saipan
\nScott Pinaula, Talafofo, Saipan
\nEmmy Rios, Achugao, Saipan
\nPeter Camacho, Kagman, Saipan
\nBen Castro, Kagman, Saipan
\nTony Pangelinan, Navy Hill, Saipan
\nBernard Cruz, Chalan Kanoa, Saipan
\nGlen Sablan, Chalan Kiya, Saipan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We parents would like to extend our portion of Sept. 3, 2008, letter to the editor titled \u201cOutages and sleepy children\u201d written by Ms. Emmy Rios from Tanapag, Saipan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}