Letter: Polite word more effective than att..

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In the past 24 hours I have received 21 emails from perturbed students who are taking the class for which I am a teaching assistant. These ranged from the unassertively sweet message to the personal attack. The students noticed a mistake in their online reading quiz, which cost them an insignificant point in a lightly weighted category. These are the students in my Book of Mormon classes at Brigham Young University.

I responded humbly to these complaints, as I truly had committed an error in creating the quiz. However, I am a student myself and was shocked at the animosity I saw in these emails from my peers.

Through this experience I have seen people forgo their integrity and social awareness for the sake of a singular point on a practically meaningless quiz. I beg readers to be wary of their behavior toward others, regardless of how incompetent a person may seem. Rather than question a TA's grammatical education or stage a Bible bash to get the grade, I would urge readers to consider alternative methods.

I would remind us all that a polite word is often more effective than a personal attack, and that nobody is perfect.

Samantha Stapley

Provo

Letter: Polite word more effective than attack on teacher