No Need to Diss My Public School
11All reporters get letters from viewers. Some are nice. Some are mean. Others are helpful. Although we’re told not to take the nasty ones personally, I’d like to respond to this particular letter if only to defend the education students receive at public schools.
I’m not going to use this person’s name. But here is the entire letter:
“On the Sunday July 25 11:00 P.M. broadcast, you were talking about trees that may have come down from the storm and you said that trees “may have fell.” The proper English is “may have fallen.”
I found this part helpful, since I’m always working to improve my grammar. But the letter continues…
“I realize you probably went to public school in which many of the teachers speak improper English. My nieces, who attend public school, had to correct their teachers who spoke improper English. Their parents and their uncle made sure they spoke proper English. The girls are now grown and people with whom they work ask them to look at drafts of papers they wrote to ensure they used proper English. I’ve had the same experience where I work.
I suggest you refer to an English grammar book to increase your marketability. If you went to private school. your parents were robbed twice — taxes and tuition.”
I find this criticism horribly unfair to public schools and their teachers. I attended public school from kindergarten through college. It’s not their fault I made a mistake. Had I went to private school, I might have still made the mistake. But it’s mistake I can learn from.
I hope people that went to private schools don’t think people that went to public schools are beneath them. People that went to private school aren’t perfect. People that went to public schools aren’t stupid. It’s a stereotype that I hope others can overcome.
One of the reasons I got into journalism is because I find people fascinating. Some have wonderful grammar. Some play beautiful music. Others lend a helping hand no matter how dire the circumstances. But every single person makes mistakes.
The person that wrote this letter, sent it to the wrong address. ‘Nuff said.
Oops. Responding on my phone. I accidently hit submit. Back to the point.
If a reported is outside a Courthouse, and reporting on what happened, we all know the proceedings happened eariler in the day, so why not use the past tense? J school teaches reporters bad English, so they’re bound to make mistakes like “may have fell,” in order to please their producers by writing in the “active” tense. I really wish that practice would stop. If journalism’s job is to tell people what’s going on, isn’t it also important to use proper English when doing so? I wish the whole practice of writing in the “active” tense would just go away. I would think mistakes like “may have fell” would go away, too.