The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR There Are Values Out There Dear Editor, How right you are ! You hit the nail on the head with the article you published 'Teachers Take it in the Teeth!' What a delight, amidst all the negative publicity of recent years, to discover a non-teacher with a little insight into the present day classroom situation. This must be, indeed, a sign of the times. Behavioural and emotional problems are commonplace in today's classrooms. A teacher must be a contortionist to juggle all the needs of her/his students. Any form of physical discipline is illegal and any form of negative, non physical, discipline is often seen as cruelty or at the very least, 'a waste of time'. Many of our youngsters come to school lacking the inner motivation necessary for learning. Education is no longer a privilege for many, but an activity which, given the choice, they would happily opt out of. The value of hard work and pride in achievement is not as obvious among some (not all) of today's, students as perhaps they once were. They expect, by and large, to be entertained rather than educated. The teacher's role today, includes that of performer and the more highly developëd the skill in this area, the greater the chances of success. It is a fact that today's teachers have never been more dedicated. They would never survive the pressures from administration, parents and their students unless they were highly motivated. Some don't survive and 'teacher burn-out' is a term recently added to our vocabulary which attests to this fact. This present day syndrome is becoming a serious concern for school boards who are now incorporating stress related workshops into Professional Activity Days. Your article mentioned that the teacher's role should be to import knowledge, not to be a parent or babysitter. I agree, but a teacher would need to be a heartless robot to ignore the personal problems with which some of their children come to school. Teachers are not of this mold. They like people, particularly children, are blessed with a generous helping of compassion and cannot ignore their students' pleas for help. When a child comes to school, eyes still not focussed from sleep, hungry, having had no breakfast, so tense he/she can barely speak - what would you do? I find something for him/her to eat, spend time calming him/her down ana hope that by 10:30 he/she will be functional. What do you do when a child comes to school acting out severe emotional trauma, banging doors, kicking desks, snarling at peers and teacher alike and when confronted with his behaviour bursts into tears and tells you Mom or Dad had walked out the night before and was not coming back. Could you say, 'Tough - sit down it's time for me to 'impart knowledge' to you?' Even if you did, do you suppose any learning would take place? I doubt it. What do you do in a situation where parents have separated and are fighting for custody of a child? Parent 1 presents the school with legal documents to the effect that Parent 2 must have no contact with the child. The teacher is alerted that there may be an incident but is unable to respond in any meaningful way when Parent 2 enters the classroom and whisks the child away. How does all this affect the learning process not only of the child involved, but the other students as well? How long does it take to get thirty little minds back on task? I leave it to you. The 'imparting of knowledge' is often secondary when incidents like this occur. Teachers must deal with these traumas - very often there is no one else a child can turn to. Teacher becomes friend, confidante, psychiatrist and social worker. Admittedly, incidents like this do not happen every day and are less evident in small communities than in the city where they are not the exception but the rule. Leaving aside exceptional cases though, we do have to admit there is a general restlessness among our students today which manifests itself in bizarre behaviours, an inability to concentrate and a lack of motivation for learning. Why is this? Some say it is the result of fluorescent lighting, others that it's the consumption of too many chocolate bars. Still others maintain that the additives in our food, the pollution in our air, cause our children to be restless. Certainly the problem is recognized. Your article mentioned that parents, in an attempt to 'get away from the hassle' are creating in the process, an orphan generation. In today's society, if a safety value for form or another, people didn't find themselves in one 1 there would be more problems than there currently are. Why are the Eastern meditative studies becoming so popular in the Western worm today? It's a response to a need to escape. And it's healthy. For healthier than drinking parties, drug use, loud music, etc. which is often the alternative but defeats its own end. I ask you now, if adults are so pressured in today's society, how are our children to feel? What opportunity do they have to 'get away from the hassle?' We, as adults, feel the need for 'time to ourselves', time to reflect, but do we recognize that children need this 'quiet time' too? We're all suffering from input overload, too much stimulation, too much exposure, too many choices. Turn off the T.V. and radio, pull out the telephone jack, cancel the newspaper and refuse visitors for a couple of days and see how much better you feel and how much better your children behave. Perhaps we should take a look in this area for the cause of our children's restlessness. Your article placed the responsibility for poor behaviour among our students on lack of discipline in the home. But, I think it is not entirely fair to put the blame for our students' behaviour in the laps of their parents (obvious cases of parental neglect aside). It's a tough pill to swallow when you've been told by experts in the field of child psychology for the past fifteen years to encourage 'self expression', to avoid negative discipline, to encourage expression of emotions such as anger, and then, when things haven't turned out quite as expected, to be told, 'It's all your fault.' There hasn't been an age to date where parents have been so enlightened, aware and concerned about their responsibilities in child rearing. The job has become so much more difficult that's all. It's not the fault of parents or schools if we are disatisfied with the behaviour of our children. Society is changing so rapidly that we just can't process it all. We can't get a "handle"on it. Many parents today, actually feel guilty if they don't give their childrenwhat they ask former if they don't engage in some activity with their children on a regular basis. Parents have never tried so hard to do the right thing by their children. But in all our giving as parents and educators, may we not be teaching our children to be 'takers'? and if so, will they not continue to be ever more demanding and ever more resentful of authority until they really are beyond our control? Let's teach them a little give and take at the grass roots level. 'We all want supper tonight, then we all help in the process.' 'We all want to go on a trip this weekend, then we all help Sift (Eanahian Statesman 623-3303 (JcKia Durham County's Qreet Family Journal Established 129 years ago In 1IM.' Also Incorporating The Bowmenvllle News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mall registration number 1541 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62 46 King St, W,, Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition of advertisements produced by the employees ol The Canadian Statesman, The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced without written permission ol the publishers. 115.00 a year --. 6 months $6,00 strictly In advance foreign -- 145,00 a year Although every precaution will be laken to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising In Its ; columns on the understanding that It will nut be liable for any error In the advertisement published hereunder f unless • proof of such advertisement Is requested In writing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian ' Stetesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted In , writing thereon, and In that case It any error so noted Is not corrected by The Canadian Statesmen Its liability , shell not exceed such a portion ol the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error beers to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, November 2,1983 3 Sunday's Bethany Hills Hunt SUGAR and SPICE Frightening, Isn't It? Are you frozen with terror, these days? You're not? Then wake up, you vegetable. You're supposed to be. Haven't you noticed the relentless relentless campaign to scare the living daylights out of us ordinary souls? There seems to be a conspiracy, in the communications media, to put you and me and our wives and kids into a perpetual state of fear. Advertising is the most prevalent, though not the most powerful, weapon of the scaremongers. It is suggested that if we have greasy hair or a greasy sink, we're sunk; that if we don't use a certain soap, we stink; that if we don't drink a man's beer, we're a bunch of you- know-whats. Well, all this is enough to set up a certain nervous tension in the ordinary ordinary amiable chap. What man wants to admit he's a failure because because he can't rush out to his friendly neighborhood dealer and snap up an all-new Super Aurora prepare for it'. It's the way of the world after all. Your article expressed a fear for the future of our children. In this letter, I have tried to address those concerns. However, there is another side to this questipn. Take heart! There are values out there that are alive and well. There is a gradual awareness creeping in that 'self expression' can often be 'other abuse' and the value of self control is beginning to be reinstated. Parents, when enrolling their childrèn in schools are asking about disciplien and desiring if for their children; parents are becoming more aware that home and school must combine their resources for the benefit of our children and as a result, confidence among the general public, with regard to education, is growing through understanding. We are all headed in the same direction. It's so much easier when we're walking the same road, rather than separate paths, to the same end. Yes, we see disruptive behaviour in our youth, but we also see creative energy, thoughtfulness, kindness and helpfulness. We see compassion when tneir friends are hurt, hear ringing laughter as they play. We see the face light up and the eyes sparkle when a concept has been mastered, and see the wheels of Borealis Shooting Star Sedan, with safety belts? Or has dandruff? But this is for the morons. You know, all the people who don't read this column. If they want to wind up with acid stomach, upset nerves, migraine headaches and irregularity, irregularity, as constipation is now known, serves them right. Anybody who is frightened by that kind of advertising advertising deserves it. But it is not on the humble commercial-watcher commercial-watcher that the big guns of the horror-brigade are trained. It is on the serious reader-viewer. They have moved, lock, stock and frightfuls, into the newspaper, magazine, book and "serious" TV field. Every time I pick up, leaf through, or switch on one of these media, somebody is trying to frighten the wits out of me about something. It's a bit hard for a fellow to cope with. Black headlines or graphic pictures pictures suggest that I'm supposed to thought turning as information is being obsorbed and processed for a later day. We see hope and optimism in their attitudes. For every disturbed child there are others refelcting the values we hold dear and let us not forget the resilence of children. How many of us have not experienced at least one childhood trauma and have come through it smiling. Kids do tend to bounce back. Also, let us not be blind to the spirit of service among our youth who volunteer their time to bring sunshine into the lives of many, showing an awareness of community needs that was foreign to many of us at their age. Children are our greatest investment and unless we express confidence in their abilities, who else will? None of us lives in isolation. Positive feedback from those around us is to the image of self concept what steak is to the stomach. Let's offer our youth our greatest gift - confidence. Our children will be fine but they will have to be strong to cope with our world as it is. Let's give them that strength by nurturing the composure and self discipline they will surely need as they grow into adulthood. Pat Schillings Ed's note: An excellent article. Thank you! be shaken rigid about Communists and cancer; birth control and bingo; high school drop-outs and homosexualism. Simultaneously, I'm supposed to be stricken by integration and insulation. insulation. If I'm not in favor of the former, there'll be a terrible bloodbath. bloodbath. If I'm agin the latter, my heating heating bill will soar. Sometime during the day, I'm supposed to be whimpering in a corner because of: high-priced funerals; funerals; the computer, which is going to put me out of a job; the unfulfilled unfulfilled housewife; and all that'leisure time I'm going to have next year, when automation takes over. You'll notice I haven't even mentioned nuclear nuclear fission, which is old hat, nor the squirrels in my attic who, at this moment, according to an article, are chewing my wiring to start a fire in which we'll be cremated, and do we have enough insurance? If people weren't basically so tough, senisble and mean, they'd all go to bed and pull the covers over their heads. Fortunately, we're as sensible as an old rubber boot. But, in case the scare-distributors are bothering you, let me give you a formula formula that is guaranteed to steady the nerves. One thing at a time. . Communists - most of us are twice as scared of our wives as we are of the Red menace. Juvenile Delinquents - hit them on the head. Hard. Cancer - you want to live forever? Creeping Socialism - better than the galloping type. The Computer - so who wanted a job in the first place? Leisure Time - be happy to have a chance to sit on your butt. Unfulfilled Housewives - fill them. Population Explosion - see Birth Control; also Nuclear Fission. High-Priced Funerals - you don't have to pay. And so on. Letters to the Editor October 27,1983 Dear Sir: Each year, we get thousands of requests for information on Christmas mailing. May I offer your readers a few hints on how they can get their mail to its destination on time? Remember to mail early I Christmas cards and parcels for local delivery must be mailed by December 17. Christmas cards and parcels for out-of-town delivery must be mailed by December 13. If you're mailing outside Canada and the United States, please check the deadlines. This year, we've introduced a Christmas mail telephone hotline. The number is 369- XMAS (369-9627). It's a Toronto number, but customers in the region of Ontario covered by telephone area code "416" and living outside the direct dialling zone may call 369-XMAS collect for information. Correct postage will speed delivery. Christmas cards for Canada and the United States must be sealed and require 32 cents postage for Canada and 37 cents for the United States. Rates for other countries are available at all post offices or over the 369-XMAS hotline. Address your mail properly. The address should be legibly written, and should include the correct address and postal code and your own address and postal code. Your local post office can give you correct postal codes. There, you'll also find labels to identify mail as "first class," "airmail" or "fragile." Wrap parcels carefully. Send them in strong cardboard boxes wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. If you have fragile goods to protect, puffed popcorn makes an excellent packing. Wrapping properly, addressing properly and mailing early, can help Canada Post get your Christmas mail there on time, As an added touch, try our Christmas scene stamps. They'll be available at all post offices from November 3. Thanks, and with best wishes. L. Skuratow Manager Bowmanville Post Office October 28th, 1983 Dear News Editor/Director: Schools throughout the province will be holding a series of career education and planning activities for their students under the banner of the Ontario Youth Secretariat's Career Week '63, November 7-13. The. goal of Career Week is to give students a belter understanding of the skills, abilities and interest needed to enter and succeed in different occupations. Much of the success of the week depends upon community involvement. Businesses and professionals are challenged to participate - - from being guest speakers at schools to taking part in career fairs and displays. Your coverage of Career Week activities is pivotal in rallying community support. Only through community involvement will our students get first-hand knowledge of the types of careers open to them as well as the skills and abilities needed. With your help business and community leaders as well as parents will be informed and challenged to take part in Career Week. Students are facing a tough and highly technological future. The competition will be stiff and you can help give Ontario's students an edge. Schools in your community will be contacting you -- inviting you to attend and give coverage to some of their Career Week events, Knowing the excellent support you gave last year's Career Week, 1 would like to thank you in advance for the good work you will he doing this year helping students prepare for their future careers, Sincerely, MikcGurski Communications Officer