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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-04-12, Page 7Wednesday, April 12, 2006 Exeter Times–Advocate 7 Positive events at SHDHS do prove the students are great EXETER — In some respects a high school is like a community on its own, but hi other ways it is very much a reflection of the larger community in which it is situat- ed. Like any community, both good things and not so good things occur, and we had clear evidence of that last week. On Tuesday we had an incident occur in the "smoking area" that generated a lot of reaction from the commu- nity. One student confronted another over something he was alleged to have said, and the confrontation turned quite nasty, with considerable swearing and a physical altercation between the two students. The incident hap- pened as elementary children were on their way to school and they witnessed this ugly incident. There had been a similar incident a couple of days earlier, and the same children had witnessed it as well. This sort of behaviour casts the students and the school in a negative light, and I had several complaints about the students' behaviour, not only the behaviour on this occasion, but the general behaviour from day to day in the "smoking area." The complaints are com- pletely valid and we recognize that the presence of the students smoking in this area often makes it awkward and uncomfortable for pedestrians who wish to walk through the area. I have notified the students that they are not to block the sidewalk and have asked them to watch their language and behaviour, particularly when little children are passing through. We are taking other steps, as well, to try to change the behaviour in the "smoking area," including having staff out there, myself included, especially before and after school when the younger students are walking to and from school. I would like to point out, though, that it is not the school that has created this issue. A number of years ago, the provincial government decided that no one should be allowed to smoke on school grounds. As a result, students, staff and visitors who wish to smoke South Huron panther profile EXETER — Jazz Fest was a swingin' good time (pun completely intended). I must say, South Huron showed some mad playing talents. If you missed this fine display of musicality, you'll be jazzed to hear Cabaret is coming up soon (pun intended again). This excellent performance is April 21 - 22. The Saturday show starts at 7 p.m., while the Sunday show starts at 2 p.m. Admission is $5. Last week's badminton tournament in Listowel was a smashing success (yes, another pun). Katie Stewart showed some excellent playing, landing a solid first place in the tournament. Rock on Katie, rock on. Now if I was talking about curling, that last sentence would have been a pretty sweet pun. Talk about a missed opportunity. But I digress. Coming events: April 12 — Blood donor clinic April 13 — Immunization clinic — Jr. badminton tournament, Mitchell — Rugby, South Huron, girls 1 p.m., jr. boys 2 p.m., sr. boys 3 p.m. Good Friday and Easter Monday, no school must step off the school grounds to do so. This means they must stand on public property, in this case the sidewalk, in order to smoke. We do our best to discourage students from smoking, but some of them do, and we have asked them to contain this activity to one area, which for the most part they do. We would prefer to have a designated area on the school grounds, away from the street and away from the routes the elementary students take to get to school, but that is not permitted. A few years ago, one of my predecessors had an arrangement where the municipality leased a small portion of the school grounds so it could be designated as pub- lic property and be used as a smoking area. A number of schools in the province did the same thing, but the Ministry of Health responded to this practice, declaring it illegal and ordering schools to stop this practice. So, the "smoking area" remains a problem for us. The only public property in the vicinity of the school is the streets in front of the school, and while we would prefer not to have anyone standing out front smoking, we have little choice in the matter. We can, however, do a better job of monitoring and policing the behaviour of the stu- dents, and I have made a commitment to do so. If we could convince them all to quit smoking, we would do so, and we are in the process of launching an anti- smoking campaign. But it is certainly not an issue of lack of awareness: the students know full well the health risks of smoking, and yet some continue to do so. One of my main concerns is that it is illegal for anyone to give or sell tobacco to anyone under 19 years of age, and yet students seem to have little difficulty getting access to cigarettes. Given that few of our students are 19, I am left to wonder where they get their hands on them. That is an issue that needs to be addressed. It is also curious that the law permits them to smoke under the age of 19 even though no one can legally supply them with tobacco. I would like to end this column on a positive note. Last week we hosted the Huron Jazz Fest, with students from all four Huron secondary schools attending music workshops during the school day and then performing in the evening. It was a wonderful event, demonstrating some of the positive contributions our students make to the school and the community. Then on Friday and Saturday, we had over 200 students take part in the 30 Hour Famine, raising over $12,000 for World Vision. South Huron students have taken part in the 30 Hour Famine for 13 years and have raised over $73,000, which is truly outstanding. According to World Vision, our event is one of the most successful among high schools in Canada. I would like to thank David MacLeod for the many hours he spends organizing this event every year, and I would like to thank all the staff and parents who give up their time to supervise this event. But mostly, I would like to thank the many students who take part in this event and raise money in support of famine relief and health care for children in underdeveloped countries around the world. In particular, I would like to congrat- ulate and thank Kendra Windsor, who raised over $700, enough to feed two children for an entire year. We need positive events like these to remind us that for the most part our students are great. We need to respond appropriately when students misbehave, but we should never lose sight that for the most part we have a wonderful student body who make positive con- tributions to our school and community. JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE f .: fig ' oro; - ' 0; --�/�', -�`;. - l 0; flr ter MATTHEW MINER PANTHER PROFILE Capsule Comments by Ernie Miatello Not all prescription vials are labelled with an expiry date. If you are giving your medication cabinet a spring-cleaning, bring the suspect medications to us for assessment. We can tell if they are worth keeping or we can safely dispose of them for you. Acetaminophen is the most popular pain -reliever in the world. It is also the most common cause of acute liver failure in the world. Not adhering to the dose ranges on the label account for many of the liver problems. Read the label and be sure you keep well within the dosage range. Parkinson's Disease IPDI usually starts later in life. It's always interesting when researchers try to find some commonality among those who get the disease. It seems that those who have sedentary jobs and are well educated seem to get PD more than those who have active jobs. No real conclusions have been drawn yet but it is very interesting. Almost half of all medication errors occur in people over the age of 60. An error can be taking the wrong dose of medication (too much, too little or not taking it at all). These reasons account for 41 per cent of fatal medication errors. This age group is particularly vulnerable since they take a greater number of medications. Huron Apothecary Ltd. •A� Phone 235-1982, 440 Main St. Exeter "YOUR HEALTH CARE PHARMACY" i PHARM ASSIST THE GOODWRENCH PRICE 15 THE INSTALLED PRICE SPRING TIRE EVENT Uniroyal® Tiger Paw® Freedom`" P195/70R14. Installation, balancing, valve stems, lifetime inspection is included in the price of your tires, and our expertise. We have tires for all your driving needs. 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