I am writing in response to Sunday’s editorial about Vicksburg High senior recognition night.

I was in attendance at the program that was held at Memorial Stadium. While football players were present and part of the program, they were not front and center of the program. Of the 75 seniors who were recognized, fewer than a dozen were football players.

I know a good many of those senior football players having taught them in class. They are good kids. Not perfect, but if they were, they would not need us as teachers. The Murrah incident should not have happened. We all can agree on that. The sanctions were issued. We accepted them. It called for a long pause of reflection. It was a teachable moment for all of us.

The focus of last Friday night’s program was to recognize the contributions and hard work of our seniors and their parents. It was not an attempt to dismiss the incident that took place on Homecoming night. It was not a protest. There was no organized conspiracy to thumb our noses at anybody. When our children do wrong, we do not love them less. We correct them. We punish them when conditions call for it. But we continue to embrace them. They might be high school students, but they are still our children.

On Friday night it was the Vicksburg High family recognizing their own. That’s what families do. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Edward Wong

VHS teacher