As the tennis teaching pro at Central Maine Tennis center (now the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn Campus) in the 1970s, I felt privileged to instruct hundreds of aspiring players. Virtually everyone was an enthusiastic, willing learner — lucky me.

Time passed, and one day a teenage boy came for his first lesson. Nothing seemed unusual about him until I started hitting him some balls. He showed as much interest in reacting to them as a toad would after a rabbit. No energy, no motivation. My customary desire to teach evaporated, an empty sensation. Clearly thrust into this, he never became Bjorn Borg’s rival.

Why bring this up?

It bothers me no end the negative comments made about public schools. What is implied is our teachers are not doing their job. Having spent several years as an educational technician in special and regular education informed me teachers are sincerely trying to educate.

Current culture, though, tugs at students, hindering the learning process. Upon even casual examination, barriers are evident: erratic parenting, cell phones, visual electronics, weak media push to be smart, and the emphases of looking cool, being hilarious, staying connected, and being forceful, sometimes defiant.

Becoming mentally competent, and able to successfully cope with life’s challenges, is serious stuff. Teachers can want to provide the suitable backdrop for this to happen, but the recipients must be ready, in gear, to complete the loop.

If the pitcher throws strikes and the batters don’t swing, there’s not much of a ball game, is there?

Norm Gellatly, Auburn