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Times -Advocate, February 25, 1998
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Shocked at youth crime a positive sign
hat is going on with our chil-
dren? In Vancouver, several teenagers
heat a girl and throw her off a bridge to
drown. In London, a teenage girl stabs
a little boy. In Chatham, police are in-
vestigating the tragic death of a child
found hanging by his clothes. Kids are
selling dope in the school washrooms,
bringing guns to school and terrorizing
entire neighborhoods.
It is easy to say violence on the screen
is the reason so many young people are
viciously attacking their classmates and
committing armed robbery, rape and
murder. It is. also easy to target single
parent families, especially low income
or welfare families. Even our provincial
premier has been heard to bemoan the
fact that moms are too busy earning a
living to he home cooking hot break-
fasts for their children. '
Some of us blame the way our courts •
treat young offenders; others the in-
creasingly fast pace of life in -our socie-
ty; and a scary few blame the lack of.
any_ "good wars to give all those feisty,
young males an outlet for their. hostili-
ties.
We like to believe childhood is a time
of innocence and beauty. Hit with'the
shocking reality, the. knowledge that
'children are Capable Of.committing,hor-
rendously violent crimes, we react very
strongly.
The fact is, youth crime is nothing
new. In decades past, there were trou-
bled kids who failed to adapt to the
school system, and some who were vio-
lent and heat up smaller children, set
fires in the bathroom and stole from
classmates and staff. The ones who
failed to adapt usually just dropped out;
the real had ones were given the strap,
sent to special schools, and finally ex-
pelled. The one thing they had in com-
mon was they rarely remained in the
school system long enough to do any
real damage.
Only in recent years have schools
come up with a zero -tolerance -policy re-
garding violence and harassment of all
types. When we were children, there
were schoolyard bullies who made our
lives miserable. If little Bobby got beat
up three days running, and had his lunch
money stolen, he would likely have been
advised to take a different route to
school, or told to kick the bully "where
it hurts most" and run like blazes.
These days, heating up a kid and steal-.
ing lunch money is not called bullying,
it is called assault and theft; police
'would he called in imriediately.
Our society has changed quite a lot.
Sexual assault is treated as a crime, not
Something that happens only to girls
who drink Neer and dress provocatively.
Child abuse is' a crime, not an attempt at
discipline that got a wee bit out of hand.
Bullying is clearly wrong, not just a nor-
mal part of growing up. We have a
much lower tolerance for violent crime
in general, and crimes against children
in particular. • •
In a way, our feelings of shock and
horror when we read'about a gang beat-
ing up a kid just to steal his designer
running shoes is a positive sign, an indi-
cation that we are prepared to take ac-
tion so all children can grow up safe.
Yes, our young offenders legislation
needs revamping, and yes, we need ex
panded social services so we can get
troubled kids effective help before they .
commit violent crimes.
We also -need to rekneffibet.tOt for
every youngster comtrtitting`violent •
crimes, there are 10 who are earning
Olympic Medals, awards for being'out-
standing citizens, and working toward
scholarships to top universities. There
are a hundred who hold down part time
jobs, do volunteer work, and still man-
age to get excellent -grades. And there
are a thousand who are plain, ordinary
good kids, having fun, harming no one,
and enjoying life.
:17ln:nred from Swegeen City Nen':
rce1 tiio1
What's on your mind?
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A View from Queen's Park
TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris has lost
his zest for going to war now that he is prepar-
ing for an election and anxious to avoid avoid
fights where he can.
Asked whether he supports the federal Liber-
al government's help for the United States in
bombing Iraq, the Progressive Conservative
premier said he knows nothing about the issue.
Harris said he has his hands full trying to pro-
vide the hest education, health care, community
services and environment to create jobs in On-
tario.
He also said he is not an expert on the Iraq is-
sue, has not been privy to any discussions on it,
is not even sure what the federal government is
doing, will leave it to federal judgment and
hopes there will be a negotiated solution.
His non -belligerency is a far cry from his
hawkishness in the Gulf War against Iraq in
1991. As an opposition leader, he rushed out a
news release declaring Canada had to take up
anus and supporting the Progressive Conserva-
tive prime minister, Brian Mulroney, in provid-
in mili ' aid.
By Eric Dowd
Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St.,
Exeter, Ontario, NOM 156 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd.
Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0786
�mal1:UONdy.com Q.S.T. •R105210435
SENOR SENATbR THoMPsoN? THEY
SAY ThEES EES ARSoLUTELY PoSITIVELY,
UNQUESTioNABLY, DEFINITELY
YOUR FINAL, FINAL, FINAL,
FINAL WARNING,,,
4V -111'P 1,`, ..
a■`ti�l/'ti a:'i 1
•
Kate's takes
By Kate Monk
Hurry up and relax
- I had a seven -course meal on
my plate last week. Council
Monday night, volleyball Tues-
day night, ball meeting Wednes-
day night and another meeting
to cover Thursday night. Throw
in a full slate of interviews and
stories throughout the daytime
hours and I was Super -reporter.
When I awoke in the middle
of the night, did I roll over and
go back to sleep? No way. I had
to get up and watch the Olym-
pics through the wee hours.
And on top of that, we were
heading to the Bruce Peninsula
for the weekend. I felt com-
pelled to do my Julia Child im-
personation with an amazing
menu to astound my friends in-
cluding homemade baked
goods. Of course I needed to
pack for all contingencies -
snow, rain, sunshine and wind.
It never fails. When I start get-
ting too crazy and starve my
body of sleep and a proper diet,
I open the door for the creepies
and ugglies. Sure enough, a cold
deveroped as the week raced by.
Not the kind that hits you like a
truck, knocks you down, sits on
your head and then lets you get
back up again after the count of
three. Oh no, it was the insidi-
ous kind that led me to believe I
could handle it.
"I'm fine," I assured everyone,
as I persevered.
And so, by the time we
reached Hope Bay late Friday
afternoon, my nose was running
faster than the Canadian speed
skating team.
I continued to put on a brave
front, coughing and sniffling ,
while drinking glasses of water
spiked with Echinacea tincture.
I was in the 'hurry up and re-
lax' mode. It extended through
the night and the next morning.
I wanted to quickly get to sleep
so I could get up early in the
morning and take the dogs for a
walk by the water. Breakfast .
was next on the agenda and then
hiking along the Niagara Es-
carpment. We were here to relax
and do everything.
And then, as it always hap-
pens to me on the Bruce, Moth-
er Nature called to me and told
me to chill out. Actually. she
ceased to supply oxygen to my
lungs and.leg muscles. It was
time to surrender.
- The weekend and the sniffles
were much easier to deal with
after that point. The remainder
of the ail too brief time at the
cottage started with sticky buns
and a glass of cranberry juice
followed by an afternoon nap.
Not just a 15 -minute on the
couch nap. It was a full-blown,
in bed, under the covers two-
hour nap.
This was followed by many
snacks, refreshments and the lat-
est copy of Harrowsmith maga-_
zine. Next it was time for a can
dlelight dinner and a relaxing
evening of cards and good cheer .
(because i won).
I finally caught onto the idea
of -going away for the weekend.
i was completely relaxed and
guess what, my cold subsided. I
enjoyed the rest of the time to
the fullest.
As 1 write this, ii's Sunday
night, I'm back in Exeter and
know that tomorrow will be an-
other 14 -hour work day. But
that's OK. I'in refreshed, I'm.re-
laxed and I'm ready.
Harris then said going to war was the only re-
sponsible course and Canada was "holding high
the torch of leadership to help achieve world.
peace and freedom," about the only time on
record he has been moved to poetry.
The Tory leader sounded almost ready to go to
the front himself, but in the end reserved his
pugnacity for belting around a few more golf
halls.
Harris also scored some political points off
New Democrat premier Bob Rae, who was
forced by his questions to say he stood with his
federal party against the war when polls showed
Canadians overwhelmingly supported it.
Rae said he felt economic sanctions would
work and should be continued and stuck to his
unpopular stance. Rae and now Harris have
broken significantly from the past, because On-
tario premiers traditionally have adopted poli-
cies on the Middle East dictated by the prov-
ince's 191,000 -strong Jewish community and
favoring Israel, which fears Iraq and would be
happy to see it attacked.
Harris needs new image of peacemaker
This community has had power beyond its
numbers through spokesmen at top levels in
politics and business and its votes and fund-
raising capacity that are crucial to winning sev-
eral Toronto ridings.
Tory premier William Davis, who like virtual-
ly any other Ontario leader (including Harris)
visited Israel chasing votes, once declared there
"I am a Jerusalemite," trying to cash in on John
F. Kennedy's "I am a Berliner."
Rae showed particular courage or foolhardi-
ness in breaking from the tradition, because his
wife is Jewish and their children are being
raised in the Jewish faith and both were re-
buked by some in the Jewish community for
tuming their backs on it.
One unprecedented sight in the Gulf War was
the undiplomatic Israeli ambassador descending
on Rae's office in anger to bring him to heel
and leaving looking even more livid after the
premier would not change his mind.
Harris is an admirer of the U.S. and normally
quick to copy its policies, including workfare
and getting tough on crime, and relished vaca-
tioning with ex -president George Bush, orga-
nizer of the Gulf War.
But Canadians through many well-
documented reports increasingly see Israel no
longer as a brave little state fighting for survi-
val in its homeland, but as occupying land it
took by force, brutally repressing its inhabi-
tants and reneging on promises to give it back.
Harris will have noted that a large and grow-
ing number share this view in letters to newspa-
pers and comments on open -line shows. He
also will have seen from the latest census Onta-
rio has a rapidly growing Arab population,
72,000 in Toronto alone, which is articulate
and could tip the scales in some ridings, and a
much larger body of Muslims from other coun-
tries which would have sympathy with it.
Harris has fallen in polls partly because he
got in arguments he could have avoided and
does not want to drop further over another
,,thousands of miles away. He would prefer a
new image as peacemaker.