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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-03-11, Page 51 Middlesex official airs view Times -Advocate, March 1 1 , 1987 Page 5 Truaney clted as symptom of a Iarger probleni Playing hooky! It sounds naughty maybe, but surely not too serious. After all, kids will be kids, right? Mrs. Pat James, School Attendance Counsellor for the Middlesex County Board of Education would not agree! She deals with truancy every school day. In fact, last year she received 170 referrals for truancy and related issues. Poor school attendance con- tinues to be a concern, even though it represents only a small percentage (1.5 percent) of the student population in the county. This year James has already received 103 referrals, 55 from elementary schools and 48 from secondary. Referrals are steadily in- creasing and James does not see any change in this trend. Truancy itself isnot the problem. It is a symptom of a larger problem. Children are truant from school because of social, emotional and/or The readers write R.R. 1 Ailsa Craig, Ontario NOM IAO Tel: 232-4340 March 3, 1987 Dear Editor: We are all part of this instant and disposable era - it takes the hard work out of everyday occurrences and allows for a fast and efficient lifestyle. This automated era has a short history, but rapidly we are paying for it with the after effects of its waste products -pollution of our water, air and soils. __ Ontario Hydro has made a commit- ment to society to encourage this in- stant and disposable era, despite the financial or ecological costs. This sen- timent has been further encouraged by leniept governments who provid- ed, for Ontario Hydro, the exemptions to the very legislation that was meant to protect this Province. Agriculturalists care about the en- vironment, they depend upon it for Four vets are honored The general meeting of R.E. Pooley Branch 167 was held in the clubroom February 26. Comrade president Jack Brintnell presented comrade Gordon Sanders with his Life Membership certificate. Certificates of Life Membership were given to Comrades Percy Noels, Harvey Pfaff and Len McKnight at a previous general meeting. These Life. - Memberships are given to comrades who have done community service as well as Legion service over the years. Congratulations Comrades! A reminder notice was read to the members of the upcoming conven- tions. Zone C-1 convention will be held at the Goderich Branch 109 on Sunday March 29 at 1400 hours. District C con- vention will be held at the Guelph branch 234' April 11 and 12, 1987. Members are welcome to attend these conventions. 'Comrade 'Duke' Vipperman and guest Richard Graham spoke to the meeting for the need for a safe house for youth in the Smith Huron area. The facility would provide emergen- cy needs for youths found in a social crisis. A donation was made. Commanding officer Greg Pfaff of the Huron Middlesex Cadet Corps ex- tended an invitation to members to view the successful corp programs on Thursday nights. A request from the Exeter Preci- sion Skating team for financial assistance was presented to the members and a $1.,000 donation was made to the team. Renovations of phase one are mov- ing along quite smoothly according to Eric Heywood. Completion of the first phase should be in the near future with phase two renovating the dart room being shortly after. A lunch with comradeship followed the meeting. their livelihood as well as for their recreation. 1200 landowners of Bruce, Huron and Middlesex Counties pro- vided the Consolidated Hearing Board the ultimate plan that would protect the environment, protect agriculture, prevent acid rain, preclude nuclear waste and reduce • the overloaded landfill sites - all without a change in lifestyle. It was rejected for the more fashionable and popular solution.. Due -to -proficiency and efficiency, behavioural troubles. "They may have a poor self-image, 'lack self- confidence, or may not have the motivation which is necessary for them to achieve success in school", James says. The two main reasons for poor school attendance are peer pressure and family related factors. Truant students are extremely vulnerable to peer pressures, and easily become in- volved in drugs, alcohol and pro- miscuous behaviours during this dif- ficult period of their lives. Because they are vulnerable, it is extremely important that young people have ap- propriate role models. Today's school attendance counsellor investigates, counsels and protects the rights of children. "Every student, between the ages of six and 16 years, is required to attend school and has the right to make the most effective use of his or her school experience", she says. "I'm not here to punish students, but to help them grow and become more successful." Sometimes, she must refer cases to the Provincial Court (Family Divi- odiiies have glut- s1on) as a lastothresort. er•allThisernatioxesccurshaon- ve agricultural comm ly after -alt ted the market - is this the cause of a misguided theory that agricultural land is a disposable resource too? To- day, we have sufficient good agricultural land; today, Canadians have the cheapest food in the world; today, we have a glut of grains - but what about tomorrow? We gave the Hearing Board a plan to offer to the Ontario Government an opportunity to regain control of On- tario Hydro. We gave them a plan to use electricity efficiently. A plan to reduce acid gas emissions, to reduce nuclear.production of electricity and thereby nuclear. waste, to produce electricity from our natural resources and to utilize energy efficient technology (available but hidden from view). We gave them a plan to protect all aspects of our environment - air, water, forests, wildlife and lands. We gave a hope to the future generations of our Province. The Board rejected this plan. In- stead, they favoured eliminating a transmission corridor in the north, and recommended the use of agricultural lands for the building of -transmission corrtd rs- between Bruce to London to Nanticoke. Nothing else will be changed - acid gas emissions continue, nuclear wastes continue to grow with nowhere safe to put them, garbage sites invade our backyards with their cancerous sediments leaching into our water- ways and Ontario Hydro continues to crack the whip over the Ontario Government. Who really won that public hear- ing? We all lost, our environment will continue to decline, our agricultural resource will be irrevocably invaded, and the future generations will be the ones to bear the cost. The Foodland Hydro Committee is down but not out, we won some bat- tles and we lost some, but the war is not over yet. For once agriculture stood firmly together. We are better for it and we hope that the Govern- ment of Ontario will recognize the op- portunity we have placed before them - to change the future of this Province without changing its lifestyle. Yours truly,Jane Rose (Mrs.) Foodland Hydro Committee Batt'n Around Continued from page 4 primarily as an added conve- nience for. the students. ' • White i(isdir tt ctllrto`ftnd-much- w good in such a bad situation, that may well have some benefits in that the students hopefully are as upset as others about the wanton destruction. liut it is also to be hoped that it will drive home the point that such incidents can not be listedas "pranks" or some of the other niceties which are often used to downplay such acts. It was a criminal act and many people suffered because of it. * Therein, of course, rests part of the problem, because too often people fail to express their anger or resentment over such matters. It would be entirely different if vandals attacked a private home in the same manner. 'The hbme owner would be outraged, as would his/her neighbors and friends. • • Well, only when we consider our ownership in public facilities more seriously, will we instil in members of our society the realization that attacks on those facilities will not be taken light- ly, whether they are triggered by sheer stupidity or thoughtlessness or because so- meone has a score to settle. It is probably also necessary to communicate the fact that you do get angry over such matters and expect harsh punishment to be meted out if the instigators are caught. Too often, we give the usual, "isn't "that too bad!" response that obviously may lead some to believe that it is not serious. It is serious and should be treated in that manner by all con- cerned... and in this case, that's the entire area of South Huron. proved unsuccessful. lnihe.past two, school years, no charges were brought before the courts, mainly due es inelsaion. to the recent thanl 1 t ge "We use the court process only to help the student and family. We do not use Goderich man is appointed A Goderich man who helped lead a campaign against Huron County's temperance laws almost 30 years ago has been appointed to the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario. J. Howard Aitken, 56, former _a sociate publisher of the Clinton News Record and Mitchell Advocate, has been appointed for a two-year term, Premier David Peterson's of- fice announced. Aitken, who recently. retired as vice-president of Signal -Star Publishing Ltd., has been actively in- volved in many community activities. including industrial and tourist promotion: In 1959. he was co-chairman of a group which successfully campaign- ed for repeal of the Canada Temperance Act, paving the way for subsequent plebiscites which approv- ed introduction of beer and liquor outlets in Goderich. Aitken, a long-time Liberal sup- porter and organizer, said in an inter- view he has read the recent report of the Ontario advisory committee on li- quor regulations containing proposed. liquor law reforms. "What I really hope is they (the government) can get a set of regula- tions in place that will be workable and get public support, something that -doesn't make us look ridiculous in the eyes of tourists." At the same time, he sympathizes with those who are concerned about under -age drinking and people with alcohol problems. Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not, Ralph Waldo Fineman the court as a punishment, James adds. Mrs. James stresses the need to identify attendance problems early. "It's easier to deal with truancy if we can catch it at an early stage," she says. DO SAMPLE SEWING The Elimville 2 4-H group met for their fourth meeting on March 2. Discussion centered around 'clothing. Our junior leader, Karen Miller gave us a Care Label Concen- tration game to play. Our leaders lead us through the steps for the fine art of doing laundry. We had to read care labels, sort clothing by colour, pre- treat stains, spots and heavy soil, fill the washer, rinse, dry, iron and store the clothes. Of course the clothes were only paper but I think this activity was very useful and informative especially for the younger members. After the discussion, we all made sample sewing pieces. We sewed on a flat button, a metal coat button and sewed a patch on a piece of fabric. The sewing samples were very in- teresting upon completion. "The -business of the_meetifg includ- ed giving opinions en the final draft of our covers and planning the next meeting. She believes that down deep, "most students really do want an education. At the same time they need to deal with their problems, so that they can learn to enjoy school." Sometimes this may mean getting them more in- volved in the school's extra -curricular activities. They need to feel that they are a part of their school. Other times, the student may have serious family or peer pressure problems which need to be resolved before he or she can become successful in school. con- tinues Jamts.. She says success is difficult to measure because every case is dif- ferent. 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