His answer: The nation's first Manners Bill, passed by the legislature in May, signed by Gov. Mike Foster, took effect in August. The law requires students to address all public-school employees as Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. and to respond to adults with a "Yes, sir," "No, sir," "Yes, ma'am" or "No, ma'am." The idea, says Cravins, 51, is to instill some old-fashioned respect. "Just as you take a child and teach him to read, you can teach him manners," says Cravins. "And we have an obligation to try." Patricia, 51, who resigned in disgust over parents' failure to discipline their kids, agrees. "Don't you think," she asks, "that a child who says 'Yes, ma'am' and 'Yes, sir' in the classroom is less likely to tell you to go to hell?"
"It's not a cure-all," Cravins says of the law, which leaves sanctions up to local school boards but forbids simply suspending or expelling violators, "but this is a first step." Some, however, are skeptical. "I don't think you can force anyone to respect you," says Bossier City middle-school teacher Marta Hernandez, 49. "Respect is earned." Others say the law diverts attention from the schools' real needs: more money and more qualified teachers. Cravins doesn't dispute that these things are needed but argues that the law serves a purpose. "It's much deeper than 'Yes, ma'am,' 'No, ma'am,' " he says. "It's one person's attempt to say, 'How do we recapture what we've lost?' "
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
