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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-02-26, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, February 26, 1997 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smlh� ProdUCtton Manager: Deb Lord +,� Advertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy News: Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos, Ross -Haugh. Brenda Burke • Production Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson • Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber. Laurel Miner Trahsvortation: Al Flynn, AI Hodgery Front Office & Accounting. Elaine Pinder. Sue. Rollings, Ruth Slaght Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers '0,01 IN 0 40►. providing news, advertising and information leadership lab lata -ION • gn,AYi:�1 P'lp� u is 1';l)1'1'OR' %L. Kids in trouble N.o more Mister Nice Guy - Onta- rio has taken- off the gloves when itcomes to young offenders. instead M. long hours of television and Nintendo. inmates at the new • "host camp' near Barrie will face. plenty of rigorous physical- exercise and ,. strict discipline. The idea is to break thc pattern_ of repeat offenses. A high percentage of adult crimi- - nais have had more than a passing acquain- tancewith- the juvenile justice system. Will hoot camp break the pattern and set the young Offenders on the -right path`' The systetn has been tried with varying degrees of success in the United' States -and. has been scrapped in some places. There is nn -guarantee it.will work here. But most pee plc agree_ the present system does not. Getting tough with young -offenders by treating I(' and 17 -year -Olds convicted, of scrlous or. violent crimes'the same as adult criminals may provide protection to socie, t\ through longer prison sentences. But es- ing hoot camp to set young criminals' on the . straight -and harrow probably won't work, not due to 'any fault in the concept of strict discipline;' hu_ t .because• it will he too little. too late. • - . By the ;time a 17 -year-old is convicted of • armed rohhery. • he •has -probably been in trouble. with .the law. for years'. By 10. it ,vas shoplifting and bicycle theft_. Police = couldn't do •anvthing . because- the mini muni age for charger is 1:'I:, By .15,: u wa4 truancy. assaults and thefts. and he was qujte-,(amiliar with the juvenile justice.sys- tem. So' -when he walks into, the: all-night , variety store_ With a ski mask on Mitt head . • and a loaded 'gun in his hand. he is not a child w,ho has madr.-a mistake and can he helped by the right. •iherapy program. or a 011 taste of strict discipline. He is an. experi- - enced criminal who IS likely to get in (rou- hle again. • Recent studies indicate kids who get in trouble with the law show certain behaviors early in -life - they're aggressive.and impul- sive. Why not intervene when they are five or six years old''• Our schools have the right ideain show- ing "zero tolerance" to violence in the class- room and school yard. A local principal ex- plains zero tolerance. 'doesn't mean automatically expelling a student who hits someone. Rather. it means teaching children to respect themselves, other students devel- op positive ways of community at _large It means taking appropriate action depending on the severity of the incident. Students • must know what types of behavior are ex- pected, and there must he clear and fair con- sequences for unacceptable behavior. It's one, step in the right direction. Step - two includes programs like ViP (Values. In- fluences and Peers) which involve educa- tors; police and members of the comnittnitx . Step three would involve hacking parents. teachers. and police with plenty of. special help for young children identified -as being at, risk- - counselling in -anger control. acp- demic -assistance. whatever is needed. Un- fortunatelv.• funding cuts in education and social services arc chipping away 'at such. programa.•definitely a step in the wrong.di- rection. Devoting time:.effort and .fund's to creat- ing hoot camps for,voung offenders is also - a 'step in the wrong direction. The right, time - perhaps the only effective time - to inter-. veno -and take serious action is before a child gets into trouble with the law. Your Views Letters to the editor Chretien after. Nobel Peace prize Some people feel that such bla- tant, blind ambition is demeaning , to Canada... Debar Ediior. • ' it Is interesting to note that true Prime Minister...1.. Chretien. is becoming') bit an International joke in his busy pursuit of the Nobel Peace.prize. to emu- tate one of ttispredecessors• . Lloyd Ax'wonliis waddling around. poking his nose into every spot he can volunteer Canada: to get some publicity tor • his Boss Rewanda. Bosnia. Cuba. Hain. anything in Mr. Chtetien's quest tor thc -prize - The USA has, its own candidate. the American Ambassador to the U.N. and the U.S. holds more real cards in the game. We shall sec. Some people feel that such blatant. blind•9mbition is demeaning to Canada. -Lets hope Chretian's quest doesn't put young Canadian service men in danger' Yours truly Gibby Gibson Exeter A View From Queen's Park TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris seems to be on the verge of banning strikes by teachers. a move his Progressive Conservative predeces- sors saw as leading to political suicide. Education Minister John Snobelen has • stepped up his public musings that teachers' strikes are inappropriate and obsolete and stu- dents should not be "held hostage" because - teachers and school boards cannot reach agree- ments. • When Snobelen brought in -legislation to end a teachers' strike in Lennox and Addington he said it showed the failure of the intricate bar- gaining system that aims to avoid teachers' strikes; which a Tory government set up m 1975. Snobelen also keeps waving around a report he commissioned in November, which he rigged against teachers bycause it was by a law- yer who represents school boards, and.which recommended banning teachers' strikes and set- tling disputes through a so-called independent arbitration court. By Eri1 Dowd Publications Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES; One year rate frA Ontario subscribers - $36.00 + SST Two year rate for Ontario subscribers - ses.oe + MIT CANADISKAOWIESIBLOUINDLOtthAKI One year subscription - Se3.O0 + GST Two year subscription - S119.00 + GST OTHEBRATES Outside Canada - S102.00 Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 136 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1.513-235.1331 • Fax: 519-2350766 email address: tknes.advecate0eedy.eom O.S.T. *R10521083. QuEN5 PARK?. I WAtirin TUT) AL PALLADINI /' ey a Ever had a •day so incredihh .Nosy: you swear you didn't have time to breathe? • . Ever packed -your calendar so • full of errands. work schedules, family and social events. you • end up racing trom-the moment , ydu get up until your head - gratefullv hits the pillow at - -night? • How many times have you heard the phrase: `There's' not , ' enough hours in a day'? Modern life is chuck full of little time -wasters that get under our.skin and irritate us the point of despair. Bank Machines Instant tellers are supposed to save us time. But now that the ultimate hank machine can perform a numbev of breathtaking transactions including updating our bankbooks. these lineups seem Just as long as teller,lineups. What about w(ien you're standing, waiting patiently behind someone who is fumbling through a million . transactions and insists on typing slowly With oho finger. then stands and studies their multiple printouts long after the machine has made its official processing sounds'' Simple .Cruelties .Brenda •Burke . , - Got the time? Computers - When they work propel l). _'they're great. When they're ...acting up. (It's always the -computcr's.fault: of course) von may. be tempted to'tntde yours • in for,an old-ty",pewriter„the kind with -backspace erase.' •• One time I sat and stared at a blank screen. adrenalin and rage filling my veins as the painful • • truth hit me. Pressing one key • by. mistake meant 1'd somehow erased 62 pages of a screenplay I had labored over for months. , Filling out forms . • Insurance forms. application. forms. change of address forms. Income tax forms, home assessment forms - the list never ,ends. • Not only.are some forms complicated, they often leave little tiny spaces for. detailed messages when all you have handy is a wide -tipped magic marker..- - Telephones • • 1 don't. know' how many. hours of my. life I've. wasted listening patiently to relatives and friends elaborate oyer the. telephone. It may be a speedy means of • • communication but not being • able• to cut the conversation .short is frustrating. And being pin on hold while forced to listen to someone • • else s music selection...Is that an -attempt to calm us or is it, just a -trick to. make us believe, a , shover amount of time is ticking away? Television/Movies- , How much time does it take to surf a multitude of channels while trying to decipher'what programs are slotted for what times hefore you realize - ' nothing's on? . And with movies; better pay your money to see'a good one or you'll feel cheated both • financially and time -wise. -1 haven't seen many people ' actually get up and leave a movie theatre because they just ” can't be bothered wasting their time on something they know is turning out to he a flop on their review scale. When I'm half way through a, • had movie. I'll keep watching. hoping it gets better. or. just to see what happens next. * * My advice on saving time? - Don't bother with banks. never fill out another form again. avoid,the telephone and , ditch the almighty television. • Movies? Well. they do help us ,escape from the reality of being . too4busv. . The minister has said he will announce by • spring whether he will ban teachers' strikes. But the Tories have made it clear they intend to cut the power of unions, and teachers' unions must be high on their list because their substantial in- fluence on previous governments and school boards helped them obtain disproportionately highsalaries and pensions. Snobelen also says he plans to cut $1 billion from -the education system and wastes no op- portunity•to say that it costs too much while providing only mediocre quality schooling and that overpaid teachers bear part of the blanc. When some high school teachers retaliated by distributing information opposing cuts in their classrooms, Snobelen called this a breach of trust. The Tories are in process of taking over responsibility for funding schools in a swap with municipalities by which they intend to cut costs and would be helped if teachers had less power to bargain, including that of going on • strike. The whole stage is set for a major confronta- Strikes by teachers tion between •Harris and teachers: A Tory•back- bencher revealed the antagonism in his caucus by shouting in a debate the'government should "get rid" of teachers' unions. Harris's Tories sound a's• if they are prepared to overcome obstacles encountered by an earli- er Tory government: The durable premier Wil- liam Davis, concerned by a wave of strikes. by - teachers in 1973, brought in a bill specifically to end them and another to forbid all strikes by teachers in future and send disputes to•compul- sory arbitration. About 30.000 teachers then descended on the legislature, the biggest demonstration up to that time. These people had been standoffish toward the rest of organized:labor and many had voted Tory. The New Democrat leader, Stephen Lew- is. hopeful of gain. claimed they were "a new social force" emerging in Ontario politics. Davis began having second thoughts, particu- larly after his chief political adviser, Eddie - Goodman. advised him privately, as he re- vealed later, that if teachers allied themselves with other unions they would be a potent oppo- sition and his government would be stamped as anti -labor. - - Never beaten in an election. Davis intro- duced legislation in 1975 that allowef teachers to strike provided they first tried to reach agree- ment through a new series of bargaining proce- dures. supervised by an Education Relations Commission, which were designed to avoid strikes. • - - Davis said then that•it would not have been responsible to define teaching as an essential public service and deny teachers the.right to strike.But the HarrisTories are tougher and more inclined to take on unions. They will know from opinion surveys that there is a wide- spread belief that teachers' unions are selfish and still want too much from the public purse while many in the private sector who pay their salaries are having a hard time. Harris's Tories also are already spending much of their time Kstripping down a govern- ment built up by Davis -- they are unlikely to feel bound by what Tories did two decades ago.