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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, January 16, 2013 · 6 Opinion & Letters The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 905-845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 905-631-6095 -- 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award Neil Oliver Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The OakvilleBeaver is a division of David Harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief, Halton Region Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Not an option With a new year begun and 2012 fading into our collective memories, some disturbing statistics courtesy of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) remind us of a resolution some of us need to keep in 2013. Impaired driving -- thought to be a preventable human behaviour headed for almost certain extinction by way of tougher laws and law enforcement and almost constant public education campaigns -- has again battled back against the popular trend not to drink and drive, according to police. Just-completed holiday season Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E.) campaigns by local and provincial police officers netted plenty of charges against people who apparently still can't comprehend that when you consume alcohol, driving is not an option. How many times do we need to be reminded, shown gruesome images from scenes of traffic fatalities, hear the cries of spouses, children, parents or siblings left behind each time an impaired driver claims another innocent life? How often do we need to be asked to think of loved ones before getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol, before we all get the message? During its 2011 holiday campaign, the OPP charged 682 motorists with impaired driving and issued `warn' suspensions to another 583 drivers. During the just-completed holidays of 2012, 693 drivers were charged with having more than the legal limit of alcohol (80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood) in their system, while 625 received warning licence suspensions for having between 50-80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. Although it's impossible to know for sure why a small percentage of the population continues to be willing to risk their licence to drive, their own lives and those of innocent bystanders, what we can predict is that the resulting carnage (and incarceration) is inevitable. While these recent statistics may mean we're still far from winning the battle, this fight is far from over and the message must not be silenced. There remains nothing to be gained from drinking and driving and yet a laundry list of things to be lost including your right to drive, employability, freedom from imprisonment and the biggest one of all -- your life. While numbers like this year's OPP R.I.D.E. statistics may prove discouraging to anti-impaired driving organizations such as MADD Canada, we hope they also serve the dual purpose of sounding a renewed battlecry. This work is still far from done. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editor Family puts in day of protest Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Our two children stayed home from school Friday -- despite the phone call from the school board at 7:15 a.m. stating school was open. As a family, we had made a plan for the political protest day that balanced fun and catching up on homework. We spent time in thoughtful discussion about why we thought the day was taking place. My children were emotionally invested in the alternative we came up with. We are fortunate that, as parents, we have the option to work from home. Families scrambled and made plans that met their needs, while some were probably left in a lurch with limited alternatives. Some service providers geared up quickly to fill in the gap, only to find out that school was back on; other service providers, such as those who provide hot lunches in schools, spent See Will page 7 Step into teachers' shoes for just a moment When is it a good time to be a teacher? As your readership digests my comments, it is my hope they will return to the above question and truly think about how they would answer it, if indeed they were a part of this glorious profession. Yes, glorious. After spending about three quarters of my 40 years of employment as a teacher, I feel I have the understanding and first-hand exposure to comment. It is true the political climate of late has been against the teaching profession. However the court of public opinion has always criticized the classroom teacher, at least as long as I have been involved in teaching since the early 1970s. I have had enough and can remain silent no longer. Try to put yourself into the life of a classroom teacher and think what would I do, how would I react, how would I feel if: · your employer tells you, as of today, all the rules have changed and that you must abide by a collective agreement you have not had any input in, and as a result you lose some rights and privileges bargained for and agreed to decades earlier, even though, you have done everything right; paid your union and Ontario College of Teachers dues, cared for and taught your students curriculum that changed at the drop of a hat, kept a stiff upper lip as parents breeze into your classroom whenever they feel the inclination, to tell you what you have done wrong, what you have not done enough of, rarely what you have done right. It has always baffled me that teachers, who in a lot of cases spend more time with their students than their parents do, are so undervalued by society. It is always the negatives that make the news. Not all the hours teachers spend running clubs and extracurricular activities, all the hours dedicated to attending meetings before and after school, all their own money they have spent to fill their classrooms with books, posters, art supplies etc. Why do they do this? It is not rocket science... because they love their jobs and everything entailed with the teaching process. That does not include fighting with the government, or any other adversary. No one goes into teaching to fight political or other battles. They go into teaching to teach, and to nurture children who are the future of our society. What are your children learning as a result of this very toxic battle? That teachers can be bullied, have no rights, should do as they are told, do their job and so on. This is not and never has been what the teaching profession models for their students in the classroom. Teaching is not an assembly line profession. Every day, and every child, is different. No matter what experts tell you, like parenting, there is not a formula for being a good teacher. It is true that information is power and the more you know, understand, and See Try page 11