We always commend school board members for visiting the classroom, especially when their purpose is to discuss tough issues that more often than not, affect the lives of many students behind closed doors.

Dr. Udo Ufomadu’s visit to the School of Discovery Genesis Center Thursday created an open-discussion environment where students could freely talk about trying issues such as bullying and gangs.

Letting students know that they can openly talk about these issues with teachers and other school officials sets a great precedent for open discussions in our school systems.

These issues — bullying and gang involvement — are too often discussed behind closed doors. We believe these issues should be out in the open so students feel like they can seek an adult when they are confronted with these issues.

Many students responded positively to this open discussion and we credit Dr. Ufomodu and School of Discovery faculty for making that possible. We believe more schools should follow their lead if they haven’t already and create open environments where students can discuss these issues.

We also commend Dr. Ufomadu for taking time and visiting a city school and seeing first-hand what’s going on in our school systems. Although most problems can be solved in school board meetings, it’s getting to know students one-on-one that prove a good and productive school board.

We encourage more behavior like this to occur throughout our school system.