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Drug problem keep kids at home Marks says The director of the Helton Addiction Research Foundation maintain it is important to keep young people in their own homes and exposed to the family values system if they are experimenting or ad dicted to drugs sad alcohol There a better chance of them coming around and adopting family values than if they leave home director Peter Marks told about parents and teachers in an informal talk on Your Child and Drugs at Stewart town school last Wednesday evening as part of Education Week His talk was part of a family life seminar which broke up three discussion groups under Dan Robert Pecora and Eric Marks said he would make an exception about keeping young people on drugs in the home there is physical abuse in either to other members of the family or to themselves The other option is to make them wards of the Children Aid Society and placed In a group home Often when this is explained to them it is amazing how the kid will come around Marks said his experience has shown it is important for parents to set limits and let the kids know what expectations you have of them He maintained it would develop mutual respect and do much to help dicey situations He outlined situations which could develop in three types of homes where the family environment differs including spoilakid home the authoritarian home and per homes Marks maintains the family environment is set by the parent with the most power not necessarily the shouter but sometimes by the wife who cnes a lot He calls it water power He maintained that parents who do every thing pamper their kids and pack up alter them are doing a great disservice to their children Pampered kids are vulnerable to alcohol and drugs he maintains When they arm t exposed to emotional knocks they turn to drugs and alcohol Marks maintains that IS and 17 yearolds should be contributing to the home by doing the shopping the cleaning and other chores If the t then you are in trouble he told the parents The authoritarian family where the lord and master lays down the laws and make a lot of decisions for children is also destructive because the kids respond when they are In the presence of the lord about per cent of the me But when he or she not there the do all kinds of things The authoritarian family is a difficult environment for a family counsellor to work with Marks said noting many parents contend they inner ted the tendency from their parents Changing behavior is next to director Mark impossible they imagine Although they may be sincere they drive a lot of kids out of the home he said When the kids are faced with big decisions such as taking drugs they lake the easy way out Marks maintained kids should make many of their own decisions in the home and then have to live with the consequences When they fail make it painful for them he advised make them live with The perfectionist home where standards are so high there can never be any self fulfillment was his next target Usually the person who sets the tone is compulsive and feels everyone must be perfect As a result be notes there are serious drug problems with youngsters who come from such homes For instance Marks related there are serious drug problems with Ontario Scholars Many successful people in business and the professions live miserable lives he contended because they come from homes where perfection demanded They often turn to drugs for relief and many seek counselling Marks advised parents not to be afraid to pay to take about IS sessions with a good counsellor He reminded them they would be investing in their own lives and we only pass this way once The speaker outlined ten rules for people to follow so they could lead fulfilling lives including the admonition that the key to a better future lies with themselves He ad vised them to stop complaining and develop an above average smile hearty handshake and other personal attributes In an analogy he said kids should learn how to handle the winters in life take advantage of the spring take care of the crops all summer by eliminating weeds and recap in the fall Kids he said should experience the consequences of not sowing seeds for their future noting that What you don use you lose Its the way drugs work be main tained supplying a crutch to get people through life The emotional side of the brain unused never lets the person hare a natural high Many 19 and the speaker said are emotionally only 11 years of age because the use of drugs has dulled natural highs Marks gave some startling statistics about the use of drugs not their presence was being felt in the elementary schools now Availability of drugs including alcohol and tobacco is increasing users fall into four levels experimentation recreational coping and dependent He noted students with part time jobs use more marijuana and hashish than those without jobs because they have more money to buy them It is also difficult to detect symptoms of drug use when used only occasionally such as three or row times a week A parent could go for years and never know his children were drug users he said When parents find out their kids are taking drugs he suggested they get help from the guidance teacher and those the Contact Centre in Georgetown would advise newsmakers Georgetown Acton Wednesday May 1983 AELePAGE REAL ESTATE SERVICES LTD REALTOR t J Million dollar road hat on the 111 million reran I ruction on Highway from Road J The reconstruction Job to Materials and of and will be comptrtrd parly this fall Included In the work a special truck climbing i photo by Ho In I Fisher to challenge conflict legislation The new provincial conflict of interest legislation could soon be put to the test of the courts if Board of Education vice chairperson Betty Fisher has her way BUI M recently passed in the legislature says a person who is married to a teacher on the same board or another board or is a teacher himself on another board has a conflict of interest With the Halton Board of the trustees have a conflict of interest inducting HiUs members Betty Fisher and DkkHowitt the province contends then Is a interest that thetr belongs to the Ontario Tea- Council to probe reform with assessment commissioner Hills councillors are hoping to meet later this month with the assessment commissioner for this area to learn more about property tax assessment reform through Section 63 of the Assessment Act formerly Section B6 Councillor Rosa Knechtel revealed this development in the current review of this contentious issue at last Wednesday s Acton councillors dropIn Differences in taxes and assessments between Acton and Georgetown were raised at dropin by two Acton residents who also own commercial property Because of the sensitive nature of assess ment information the provincial official won likely agree to meet with councillors in public council ao the session will be held or doors Before Hills was bom assessments were substantially different in Acton Georgetown and Esquesing Knechtel ex plained because assessment had been done at different times When Hills was bam the province bring in a new Town wide assessment Later Queen Park took over responsibllty for assessment from municipalities and aimed to base assess ments in the futue on market value How ever the province then backed off on the notion for political reasons However they left It up to municipalities toimpiiment a form of market value assess ment which calls equalized assessment by applying for reassessment through Section Previously Halton Hills council by narrow vote margins has rejected reassessment or reform through Section When the issue came to a vote in 1981 Councillors Knechtel Dave Whiting Harry Levy and Marilyn Serjeantson supported reassessment as well as former councillors Terry Grubbe and Walter However Mayor Peter Councillors Miller MikeArmstrongandJohnMcDonald and former councillors Roy Booth and George Maltby all voted opposed Councillor Sheldon was absent for the vote Earlier this year a consultant appeared at Halton Hills council disclosing that taxes on Industrial commercial and residential properties in Acton are per cent higher than in Georgetown However Knechtel disputes there Is a disparity between residential taxes in Georgetown and Acton though he acknowledges the consultant Is correct about the gap for Industrial commercial property The consultant prepared his report for Heller At that meeting council decided to review the reassessment issue again and part of the process was for to work with Treasurer Ray King updating the old report Wednesday Knechtel explained there are two problems with assessments In Halton Hills Firstly homes businesses and plants built after have been assessed by the province using the new system based largely on market value However properties assessed before 1972 still have assessments in effect based on the old system Complicated equalization factors are applied to the residential mill rates for Acton Georgetown and Esquesing to compensate for the differences in assess in Halton Hills For example real assessments arc per cent lower in Acton than Georgetown but the mill rate Is per cent higher in Acton so taxes work out equally In the two urban areas for similar properties Knechtel explained But for industrial commercial property it appears assessments are about equal in Acton and Georgetown so with the equallza lion factors and per cent higher taxes are per cent higher In Acton than George town Half of Ontario s municipalities have opted for reform through Section 86 or Sec tion The assessment situation in Hills Is a gross injustice to owners of property assessed after 1972 as well as owners of industrialcommercial property Knechtel declared Through the normal assessment appeal process people must demonstrate their assessment is unfair compared to neigh boring properties they cant compare Georgetown with Acton That a problem with the stupid Assessment Act he said Knechtel said it can easily be argued that Hills council have to solve the problem created by Queen Park It Is a very political issue Whiting said Councillors keep In mind that a third of assessments will go down after Section but those voters will simply feel they have been paying too much for too long Another third of taxpayers will sec their taxes go up and they won t be happy with council The last third will see no change in their taxes so they won care While reassessment Is the fair thing to do it hasn t curried because it politically astute The present situation is grossly unfair Knechtel said adding he has heard many complaints about the problem from not only Acton but residents as well It is argued that reassessment will hurt senior citizens who own older homes but that isn time said He noted while their assessment will go up and thus their taxes seniors will then just receive a bigger grant from Queens Park to cover their property taxes He felt seniors don want to bctreateddlfferently they want to pay what their property is worth Reassessment was done in cities like London Cambridge and Kitchener and while there were some complaints It cause a big problem Knechtel noted Another argument against is that it results in loss of municipal assess ment but any loss is because with a new system people ask more questions and there are more appeals Whiting said The last time council voted on this issue they weren t aware of the problem with Industrialcommercial property and that may make a difference in the next vote Knechtel said hope council will opt for reassessment addling people who want Sec tion approved should keep their fingers crossed because It will be put to a vote before the end of this year and he expects a close vote again One of the things holding some councillors back on this Issue is the province t provldeenough information old assessments compared with assess ments after Section is approved Some councillors won support the measure because they don know what will happen The residents at dropin said since Halton Hills is supposed to be one Town there t be a disparity between Acton and Georgetown taxes Regional government was supposed to eliminate disparities This disparity is a Dig factor in the lack of Industrial development Acton There is little Industrial land left In Georgetown so it would be in Helton Hills best interests to solve the problem so firms could be at traded to Acton As things stand now Indus trial taxes are too high in Acton cher Federation a parent organization to the smaller groups In which the local teachers belong The province Fisher says is saying when a trustee votes on salary In Halton it can have a whiplash effect Peel She admitted that if it provincial bargaining she could see the conflict however each board has its own bargain ing andshefeels a different kettle of fish If an elected official Is conflict of interest and is Fisher told this newspaper that mast vacate his or her seat The Vikings have landed as Oral EareacM visiters Grades 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