As I’ve gotten older, I have started listening more to talk radio and less to the music.

I may not agree with everything they have to say, or their guests and callers for that matter, but it does give me an opportunity to see things a little differently sometimes.

I also get some fodder for my musings every now and again.

Take, for example, this little tidbit.

I was listening to Neal Boortz Tuesday when he told the story of children on the first day of school having their personal school supplies confiscated by the teacher. It wasn’t because the items were banned or illegal, it was so the teacher could redistribute them to others in the class who might not have had everything they needed.

Boortz said the information he received included stories of children going home that day in tears because they had lost their possessions.

Like the radio host, I found this practice to be intolerable.

I remember those days, the first days of school, and how proud I was of my new gear.

Every year it was new pencils and notebooks, and as I aged, things such as protractors, calculators and the like were added to the mix.

Like most children, I selected items that best fit my personality. I might have had a Superman notebook, or maybe one with hot rods on it, as I grew up during the “muscle-car” era.

But no matter what I had, the bottom line was it all belonged to me. And if I didn’t want to share it or give any of it away, I didn’t have to do that.

So what makes these teachers think they have the right to take these items from these children?

When did this become a communist state where the government takes everything and then distributes it as it sees fit?

If I were a parent, I would be livid over this. I would march right into the teacher’s room, retrieve my child’s ruler from the stash box and begin smacking her n or him n on the knuckles, like the nuns used to do in Catholic school. I’m a Methodist, but I’ve heard the stories.

How traumatic this must have been to those little folks who were so proud of their supplies. They had gone with their mom, and/or dad, to the store, and picked through hundreds of notebooks, just to find the right one.

They selected pencils, and maybe pens, that had some cute saying on them, or maybe even their name.

Everything was shiny and new, and the children were ready to do battle.

What they must have thought when they had their personal property taken away. I’m getting madder about this as I write it. It just ain’t right.

I only hope it isn’t happening here. If it is, let me know.

And if there are children out there who need school supplies, as I am sure there are, let me know that also. I’ll adopt one or two and get them what they need.

And if I do, I hope that some hateful teacher doesn’t take their stuff away and divide it up among the others.

Kids don’t have much they can call their own as it is. Why make things worse?

Grant is the managing editor of the Suffolk News-Herald. Contact him at doug.grant@suffolknewsherald.com, or 934-9603.