Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 25, 1994 TAG: 9412060039
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Myth No. 5: Never adopt a child more than 2 or 3 years old. This is a relic of the mechanistic view that dominated science at the turn of the century, and which influenced Freud. It manifests itself today in the view that personality and potential achievement levels are largely settled by the time a child reaches the age of about 3, with the result that the odds of ever being adopted drop like a stone for a child who passes his/her fourth birthday in foster care.
This is downright goofy when you think about it, for Americans place great faith in the power of free will to effect personal transformation and redemption. We spend billions annually on counselors, therapists and doctors of every type and description to cure every conceivable behavior problem. We parade reformed addicts in front of schoolchildren daily. We coo sympathetically and sing praises every time some famous-for-being-famous celebrity emerges from the Betty Ford Center to announce that his/her addiction to a nasal decongestant has been broken.
But we believe that homeless 4-year-olds are doomed, they will never be able to give or receive love, will never belong at the table of civilized people, and will wreak havoc and heartbreak on their adoptive families. Go figure: Adults afraid of 4-year-olds.
Thousands of children out there need families, and the failure to find families harms them and, ultimately, our society. We should practice what we preach, give this old canard the boot, and move these older kids into homes they need as swiftly as possible.
|ROBERT M. FELTON |ROANOKE
Warner set out to re-elect Robb
IN THIS PAST senatorial election, Sen. Charles Robb won with the help of Sen. John Warner and Marshall Coleman. It's a shame that Warner, who is a Republican, betrayed his party to support Coleman. He thought this would get Robb elected, as he wanted, knowing Coleman didn't have a chance.
I only hope when Warner's term is over, the Republicans will forget him and run a good candidate. A lot of other people are saying the same thing.
HERBERT L. SMITH
ROANOKE
Republicans care about social issues
I TAKE exception with the Nov. 16 letter to the editor by Lena May Franklin (``Happy days are here again?'') portraying Republicans as people who care nothing about our environment, needy people or crime. On the contrary, I vote Republican and I care deeply about social and environmental issues.
I believe in restrictions on public assistance, not because I'm greedy or dislike the needy, but because I view continuous public assistance as hurting and not helping people. If you do your child's homework every night, have you really helped him? No! That only serves to make him dependent on you, and it destroys his ambition and initiative. This is what our welfare system is doing to millions of recipients - making them dependent to the point where they never realize their personal potential or value. Public assistance should be a temporary, not a lifetime, solution.
I'm not a gun owner, but I do oppose bans on guns. Webster's Dictionary defines inanimate ``as not endowed with life or spirit; lacking consciousness or power of motion.'' Unless anyone has met a talking gun with decision-making ability, I believe I can safely say that guns are inanimate objects and the responsibility for the actions of the gun belong to the person holding it. To place bans on guns is a Band-Aid solution and denies personal responsibility.
I feel that I can be a Republican and be environmentally aware. I participate in the Adopt-a-Highway program, and spent a Saturday morning recently picking up trash on Virginia 419. I recycle, buy biodegradable containers whenever possible, have not purchased any product from Exxon since the Valdez incident, and applauded when Exxon was hit with a record lawsuit.
Simply because I don't subscribe to the Democratic platform doesn't make me a bad person.
LESLIE VIAR
ROANOKE
Let woman keep her forest home
I READ the Nov. 19 news article in your newspaper about Peggy Childers (``Forest off limits for live-in''). I met her in person recently on a hiking trip in that area.
My dad, two others and I came up on Fullhardt Knob Shelter, and when we got there, two other hikers were talking to her about what she should do about the situation. Being hungry and tired from the day's 13-mile hike, I ate and went to sleep. The next day I was fixing myself some tea and discovered that my sugar was missing. Childers sensed something was wrong and offered me some of her own sugar. While I drank my tea, we began to talk. She told how she had lived there on and off for five years.
She seemed like a nice person, and I cannot understand why ``they'' are going to take her only home away. I wonder where she'll go now. And to anyone involved in this case, please reconsider. Childers is too nice to be fined and/or locked up.
CHRIS ANDERSON
SALEM
by CNB