Parents are just seeking equal treatment
This is in response to the letter "Lessons Learned On the Community's Soccer Field" (Tri-Town News, Oct. 25). First, I would like to say that the security guard who responded to the issue with the field should have just told the other team that the Challenger team had the permit for the field and that they needed to leave. He should not have left it to the coach to make that decision. Isn't that his job?

Second, I would like to thank Patrick McGoohan for bringing this issue to the public. My children have an I.E.P. (involved, educated parent)! I am very active in the special education community in the Jackson school district. Children with special needs have parents that have to fight for them to have a free, appropriate education.

The letter "Welcome to Holland" that Mr. McGoohan added to his letter is so true for parents of special needs children. I actually have a copy hanging next to my computer and I read it every day to remind me how special "Holland" is.

Parents with special needs children have to pay for therapies and social skills groups so they can try to participate with "other" children in their community appropriately.

Some of these children can't play along side the children in other sports because of their physical or emotional handicaps.

I, along with other parents, have been advocating for a more inclusive community. We have met with the new recreation director and discussed ways to do this.

As part of our discussion, we spoke about how parents in the community may object to this. How can we make the "other" parents understand the need for these children to feel like they are a part of this community? These children do not deserve to be segregated. Are we not past that? How can we educate the parents? These children deserve everything the "other" children obtain from their environment and their community.

The school district has discussed and is starting to implement a more inclusive education in the district. This year the district received a grant to assist with this endeavor. We can only hope that by educating the students in a more inclusive environment, that the students will learn from hands-on experiences with these "special" children and not from what happens outside the school in the community. We need to teach the children of Jackson you do not get ahead in life as a bully. The parents of the "special" children don't want special treatment, just equal treatment.

Pattie Carollo

Jackson