ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 1, 1995                   TAG: 9505040014
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TOLERANCE 101

IF THE DARK passions behind the Oklahoma City bombing lurk at one end of the spectrum, the bright light of tolerance shines at the other.

Tolerance does not mean fainthearted reluctance to engage in vigorous debate, nor nodding agreement with anything anyone else says, nor compliance with every bit of silliness that goes under the label of "political correctness."

It implies, rather, a willingness to respect the human rights of other people and a healthy capacity for avoiding the descent into stereotyping and blind hatred.

At a congressional hearing last summer, a speaker from the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama reported that more than half of all hate crimes are committed by youngsters under 18. How can attitudes of tolerance be fostered?

The speaker, Sara Bullard, directs a nonprofit project, called Teaching Tolerance, launched four years ago with support from the National Education Association. The project provides free educational materials to teachers and schools, and has won praise from many educators and others.

Illinois Sen. Paul Simon, who chaired the hearing, has endorsed the endeavor, saying: ``There are no major government programs that will provide a quick fix for our nation's bias-crimes problem or that will wipe out intolerance. I am impressed, however, with the effort being made by Teaching Tolerance to reach students before they become intolerant adults. ''

The underlying premise is correct: Young people, including very young children, need to be taught tolerance and respect for others. Young ears can't be muffled, nor young eyes shaded, nor young minds walled off from the virulent sounds, sights and ideas that permeate society. Mean-spirited, bigoted and bellicose messages of hate come from too many sources - and it is up to responsible adults not to censor them, but to counter them.

Whether Tolerance 101 should be sandwiched into the schoolday is questionable. Materials like those of Teaching Tolerance are perhaps better employed as an aid to the techniques by which good teachers long have taught tolerance - by example, demeanor and personal influence over students who look up to them.

If such teachers are valuable, parents are doubly so. The latter lay the foundation. Like charity, tolerance must begin at home. 


 by CNB