Clerks Can Be Students of Life

Re “Schools’ Use of Students as Clerks Draws Criticism,” May 5: As anyone who has ever gone to school knows, you learn very little in the classroom. Class is generally something we wait for to end. Most learning comes from independent reading, doing homework and working through the conflicts inherent in all relationships--the ones with ourselves and the ones with others.

Students engaged in clerical tasks at school are lucky. They are working alongside teachers and administrators, learning about responsibility and about themselves from their contact with adults. They are singled out as worthy individuals. We need to go much further in engaging students in nonacademic school activities--for example, requiring students to do community service in their schools and neighborhoods.

Community service could mean cleaning up student-generated graffiti and trash from school grounds and their neighborhood streets, cleaning up their classrooms, hallways and lavatories and helping in the lunchroom, where their meals are provided free. As parents, if we ask our children to pick up their clothes from the floor in their rooms, are we depriving them of their childhood? I don’t think so. The most important lesson we can learn is not the one about a math equation but the one about responsibility.

R.X. Stafford

Los Angeles

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The use or abuse of student clerks dates back at least half a century. I attended Fairfax High School in the late 1950s. The school had a clever ruse for choosing only top students to “assist” the staff--honor organizations called Alphas and Knights, for girls and boys respectively. Students were chosen based on excellence in both academics and extracurricular activities. I remember the thrill of becoming an Alpha and receiving my bright-blue Alpha sweater; my brother was dubbed a Knight.

But the honor carried a price. We were required to spend one class period as a “clerk” to staff members. With a six-period day, that was a steep price. I still lament the fine course in Shakespeare my friends took, while I ran errands for administrators.

Today many schools offer seven or eight class periods. Some students have fulfilled all requirements, or are taking five academic courses plus music or art and still have a hole in their schedules. A properly supervised “clerking” position can be beneficial but should be graded differently--perhaps pass or fail. In times of strict school accountability, we must remember that students are not widgets. They benefit from careful exposure to a variety of learning experiences.

Betty Raskoff Kazmin

Willard, Ohio

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I am an eighth-grade student at Cubberley K-8 School in the Long Beach Unified School District and a teacher’s aide for an elementary technology teacher. I completely disagree with your article. It does not show the positive side of being a teacher’s aide. At Cubberley, being an aide is an optional activity. Students are removed from an unnecessary study skills class to help a teacher of their choice.

To be an aide, a student must go through a background check to see if he or she meets the necessary academic requirements for the position. During my time as a teacher’s aide I have had nothing but positive experiences. I help children from kindergarten to fifth grade by answering questions about computer programs the students are using.

Even when I do not have students to aid (which happens when teachers cancel or are on a field trip), I am always learning. The technology teacher instructs me on the basics of Power Point. All in all, being a teacher’s aide is extremely fun and profitable if the students meet the appropriate academic requirements.

Stefan Kehlenbach

Long Beach

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I agree that it is bad when students are assigned as clerks or service workers instead of taking academic classes they need and want. There needs to be a limit on the number of semesters of credit for this work. However, students can get valuable experiences by working for a teacher or in an office. They learn to be responsible and to relate well to others in answering the phone, running errands and grading papers. Students who do not take business classes or go into clerical careers can learn useful skills that will help them in many jobs, and I have seen good teaching in these situations by school office staff, teachers and administrators. Students usually like the one-on-one attention that they get from a favorite teacher or school secretary who becomes a mentor.

Teachers in high school and middle school do not get adult secretaries. Rarely do we get aides. We have big classes and limited time. Student helpers who assist us with clerical work and grading papers allow us to spend more time working with students and planning lessons.

Carol Perry

Redondo Beach