Ladarius Wiggins and Aaron Atkins know how to be respectful to their teachers &045; but they admit they haven’t always done it.

The Ferriday Junior High School sixth- and seventh-graders said they felt bad for their one-time-only actions, but said they see disrespect in the classroom every day.

Cursing, talking back, running out of the classroom and even hitting are things the boys said they’ve seen happen in their school.

Add to that list, sagging pants, fights, talking and walking around and you have what some Miss-Lou teachers deal with on a daily basis.

But classroom civility truly starts with the teacher, several area educators said.

&uot;Oftentimes a lack of classroom control comes back to a lack of preparation on the part of the teacher,&uot; Robert Lewis Middle School Principal Bettye Bell said.

&uot;If a teacher goes into the classroom and has not prepared adequately it creates a discipline problem.&uot;

With 25 years in the classroom and several local teacher-of-the-year titles under her belt, Natchez High’s Frances Doss can attest to the fact that classroom control lies in the teacher’s hands.

&uot;You just let them know &045; you will do what you are to do,&uot; Doss said. &uot;Once I deal with it, that’s basically it. Once you get the respect of those students, maintain that respect.&uot;

Doss, who’s never had more than five or six discipline referrals in one school year, said her students know that fights, complaints and disrespect stay outside her classroom door.

Respect is also the unbreakable rule in the FJHS classroom of Juanita Green.

&uot;My classroom is a relaxed environment, but I work them hard,&uot; Green said. &uot;You can’t disrespect me and you can disrespect a fellow student.&uot;

Civility is something that starts at home though, Bell said.

&uot;If you have a child that comes to school, and mom lets them get away with certain things at home, then they expect to get away with them at school too.&uot;

Bell said teachers and administrators first need parents to set rules at home, and secondly to support the school’s rules and not challenge them. She said all too often parents take the side of their child over the school’s policy, belittling school rules in the child’s eyes.

Bell has spent much of her first year at RLMS working to first correct discipline, then improve academics. Though she said she’s seen some progress this year, she said she thinks the key is enforcing the rules with the new seventh-graders each year.