I don’t want to say it, but it’s tempting.

It’s tempting to say I’ve now seen the news business come full circle.

From the days following Watergate, when journalists were cheered as essential watchdogs keeping those in power in check.

To these days, where the president, the leader of the free world, seemingly cannot let a day go past without calling journalists horrible and dishonest people.

This week’s news that the school district will stop sending honor rolls to the newspaper made me think I’d nearly seen it all.

I remember my first editor’s job, about 25 years ago, and the furor from parents if their child’s name was misspelled, or worst, left off, of the local honor roll.

Back then, parents’ worst fears were that their children would show up in the police blotter. The honor roll was instead a sweet blessing and a boastful relief.

School district officials say publishing the honor roll can harm the emotional well-being of youngsters.

It made me think back to the time when one angry parent called to complain after we’d published a picture of a car that flipped over next to the highway, and was sitting on its roof.

Thankfully no one was hurt. But the parent was angry that the photo made it into the paper.

The trouble, she said, was that the driver was her teen-aged daughter. And though the photo’s caption did not identify who was behind the wheel, everybody at school knew what kind of car the teenager drove.

Think of what would happen at school, the parent implored: “Now everyone is going to think she’s a bad driver!”

I’m not alone in greeting the school district’s decision with surprise. Comments about the sunsetting of the honor roll in the Review were clogging up Facebook this week.

Said one: “This is a joke right? Please tell me this is a joke. What kind of example are these ‘leaders’ setting? They do realize they have a large part in preparing the students for success in a world with winners and losers, the real world? Nice……the schools better stop all competitions, sports or academic, you don’t want your poor little ones being stressed or traumatized or triggered or offended.”

But on the other side: “We should be celebrating kids for who they are, not just what they achieve!”

As a newspaper, we’ll continue to try to celebrate both.