The schoolyard rhyme about sticks and stones was just wrong. Forget what you learned in second grade.

Words can, and do, hurt people, especially when lobbed in misguided anger.

One would think adults would understand that, but look no further than two local school issues to prove that’s not always the case.

In the Natchez-Adams district, much headache and turmoil has been made over the future of the Robert Lewis Middle School’s interim principal, Mr. Larry Hooper.

Some members of the community — amazingly even elected officials — got involved in the school district’s own processes including having private meetings and instigating a protest outside the school.

If the school administration opts to discipline or even end the employment contract with an employee the public’s best avenue for expressing concern is through the proper channels — school board meetings — not through disrupting the education process.

Across the river in Concordia Parish a similar situation exists involving a terminated social worker with a Ferriday school.

Allegations of racism have flown on both sides of the river. Both sets of allegations seem aimed more at enflaming public sentiment than to truly allege racism.

The racist charges seem unfathomable. In the Natchez-Adams situation, both persons involved — the employee and the supervisor — are black. In Ferriday’s case, both are white. So the allegations imply same-race racism.

Let’s deal with the facts and let’s deal with the system of government we have in place to challenge decisions and offer positive, constructive input.

Let’s quit all efforts to win the disputes and focus our efforts on creating successful children, not more disagreeable adults.