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7 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,A pril 15,2021 insidehalton.com Options. Savings. Guidance. You pick. We Plan. Pre-Plan with us today! 1-205 Nebo Rd., Hamilton | affordableburialandcremation.ca Call 905-389-2998 SimPliCiTY - VAlUe - exPerieNCe Funeral Directors Available 24 Hours a Day Pre-Arrangements and Time Of Death Arrangements Monthly payment options available Call today to discuss some of the options available for you or your loved ones delmanor.com Don't Leave HomeWithout Him At Delmanor, there's no need to leave your best friend behind - your new home can be his as well! Call today to learn about the Delmanor difference! (905) 469-3232 1459 Nottinghill Gate, Oakville Photo taken prior to COVID. During the week of April 18, we will celebrate National Volunteer Week, in Oakville and across Can- ada. This is a great remind- er to thank our local vol- unteers for their critical role in strengthening and uplifting our communi- ties. The theme for this year's National Volunteer Week is: "The Value of One, The Power of Many." It is a reminder to all of us of the positive ripple ef- fect that can occur when we work together towards a common purpose. Our actions, when re- peated by many, can create lasting change here in Oak- ville and across Canada. COVID-19 has been a challenging time for our community. Despite the challenges of this past year, I am con- sistently inspired to hear stories of Oakville resi- dents supporting their neighbours, whether they are friends, family or strangers. Time after time, our community has come to- gether with care and com- passion to help each other during this difficult time. I am honoured to re- present a community that is committed to helping one another. I extend my gratitude to all of our local volunteers here in Oak- ville. Thank you for your con- tributions and efforts in supporting our communi- ty. As always, my constitu- ency office remains avail- able at 905-338-2008 if you have any questions or con- cerns. Anita Anand is the MP for Oakville. She can be reached at ani- ta.anand@parl.gc.ca. TIME TO THANK VOLUNTEERS FOR 'STRENGTHENING' COMMUNITIES OPINION THOSE WHO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY BETTER SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED, SAYS ANITA ANAND ANITA ANAND Column DR. ALAM OFFERS IMPORTANT FOOD FOR THOUGHT (This column is in re- sponse to Dr. Nadia Alam's "The Kids Are Not All right" column, which can be read at insidehalton.com.) Thank you, Dr. Nadia Alam, for drawing atten- tion to an issue that is neg- atively impacting our growing children -- and thank you, The Oakville Beaver, for printing it. Teachers and research- ers have been emphasizing for some time that the amount of time many kids spend in front of a comput- er screen is also inducing mental and emotional problems that directly con- tradict the expected posi- tively theoretical effects. Reduced attention and the inability to read, con- centrate, communicate and sit still are high on their list of criticisms. It would be sad for any Canadian student to miss out on exploring that ex- traordinarily rich heritage of English literature and industrial technology the U.K. is famous for. PBS and our excellent TVO are doing a great job, but can they alone be relied on to fill the huge gap of needed therapy? For U.K. Psychologist Dr. Max Pemberton, stu- dents as young as four are growing up in a two-dimen- sional world and missing out on vital social contacts. They are learning how to be frenetic and how not to be bored, how not to re- lax, slow down and con- template, thus amassing the inadequacies that will haunt them and society in later life. The famous U.K. philos- opher Lord Bertrand Rus- sell has said, "A certain power of enduring bore- dom is therefore essential to a happy life and is one that ought to be taught to the young." Using a TV as a baby- sitter is a form of child cru- elty. KENNETH AQUAN-ASSEE, EDUCATOR, OAKVILLE LET'S WORK WITH DEVELOPER OVER GLEN ABBEY PLAN In a recent Oakville Beaver article titled, "Fight to save Glen Abbey gains ally," one sentence at the end needs to be re- peated. It reads: "ClubLink rep- resentatives said 54 per cent of the overall site would be preserved as pub- licly accessible green space." This may not be a fact that is known by most Oak- villians. There are certainly problems with the develop- ment proposal, but per- haps it is time to start nego- tiating with the developer instead of using our tax dollars to fight it. This will be a beautiful park area, connecting to Lions Valley Park, so that Oakville can have the kind of central green space we can all be proud of and en- joy. RUTH SOMMERFELD, OAKVILLE