ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220039
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I AM SURE the purpose of the Oct. 7 news article (``Out of step at school, teen would like to be learning right at home'') was to bring to light how uncooperative school officials are being about educating one young man. I think the responsibility falls not only to the schools, but also to the student and the parents. I gather from the article that this child has had behavioral and other problems over the years, so this isn't a new situation. Have the parents been involved with their child's academic growth since enrolling him in kindergarten?
Education is a shared responsibility of teachers, administrators, parents and students. We can't leave to other people our responsibility. If our children are having problems at school, we need to work with others to solve the problems, not spend valuable time placing blame. Children should have the right to be heard. But in most instances, they are dealing with problems on an immature, emotional level, and the adults should be the decision makers. Parents who choose not to get involved with their children's academic growth until serious problems arise should probably concede that the schools do know what is best for their children since they have dealt with the problems a lot longer than the parents have.
I've worked in a local school system in the past. In those 11 years, I saw a decline not in the quality of education or good teachers, but in parents' willingness to accept the responsibility of raising their children and participating in the educational process. This process encompasses so much more than just academics. When we as parents realize this, we will do a better job of parenting and educating our children. I am not saying school systems do not have problems, but parents need to step back and objectively look at a situation to see if the problem begins at school or if it's an extension of problems from home.
SHIRLEY SPANGLER
ROANOKE
The abortion issue concerns humanity
YOUR SEPT. 27 editorial, "The partial-birth abortion vote," missed the point. I think it's easy to miss the point when we discuss abortion, but we really want the newspaper's help to know what the real point is.
The point for discussion is this: Is it wrong to deliberately and directly abort a late-term fetus? Is it criminal?
Or put another way: Is a late-term fetus a human being with some rights?
Those of us who want to preserve the notion that fetuses are potential, increasingly real human beings say yes because we do not want people's humanity to be compromised for fear of our own humanity. Those who want to preserve the individual's right to choose abortion say no.
Let's call that the real issue and debate it straight up.
LARRY FISCHBACH
BLACKSBURG
Time to put adults in charge
WHEN BILL Clinton and Al Gore were elected four years ago, I thought of a couple of kids who got a new game called ``How to Run a Nation.'' I have watched as they have made mistake after mistake, and just shook my head. Can we really afford to have four more years of kids' trying to learn how to run this country?
Bob Dole and Jack Kemp are mature men with lots of job experience. They love this country and its people, and are pained by what they see happening to it.
Maybe Dole isn't a good speaker and lacks charisma. But to me, he speaks fine and he's a down-to-earth man. I would feel much safer having him and Kemp running this country and foreign affairs.
GLO SHADDLE
ROANOKE
The nation needs a moral uplifting
BILL CLINTON'S and Al Gore's "feel good and forget it" message plays well with uninformed, busy people who don't want to think about what their parents taught them on right and wrong, self-reliance, hard work, the price one must pay for individual freedom, moral fiber, telling (and knowing) the truth and keeping your word.
Who would deny that if Clinton were a Republican, he would have been impeached? With all the Clintons have been involved in or associated with, a whole new law school could open, teaching "Clinton" to eager young lawyers with a minor in drama.
If Clinton is re-elected, do we blame the Republicans' lack of drive, tenacity and unwillingness to use scare tactics? The media (including this newspaper) and their myopic slant on reality? Our education system for failing to teach students critical-thinking abilities along with the basics? Voters too lazy or too busy to get involved in actively changing society's ills, and too self-centered to give a hoot?
I take responsibility, as should we all, for letting our society slide toward moral relativism where tolerance is equated with intelligence, where self-esteem is more important than ability, where a business is shut down for endangering an owl. But where it's OK to stick a metal object in the back of an unborn human being, killing the defenseless and calling it a woman's right to choose.
Our forefathers would be ashamed at us for being spoiled, weak, whining, wimpy and ungrateful for our many blessings. They would be saddened by our progress in technology without our hanging on to Judeo-Christian foundational beliefs.
My wife's grandmother (Pennsylvania Dutch) told us when she was 94 years old: "It's a good life if you don't weaken.'' My friends, how much weaker do we have to get before we have no life?
I ask my fellow Virginians to pray for our president, whoever he or she may be, and pray that a heavenly spiritual revival will begin in the White House.
JORGE E. PARROTT
SALEM
Landrith avoids
taking positions
I CONGRATULATE The Roanoke Times for its coverage of this year's election campaigns. I've learned a great deal from reading the candidates' responses. You have demonstrated a real concern for the issues that matter most to people instead of focusing on the "horse race" aspect that consumes so much of the media.
However, it surprises and disturbs me that one candidate doesn't seem to take the time to respond to citizens' concerns. George Landrith says that he's so committed to running for Congress that he has been unable to work or earn a living for the past 18 months. Instead, he relies on donations to pay for his family's health insurance. Yet he consistently fails to answer many questions posed to him.
When I vote, I'll vote for someone who listens and responds to the concerns of real voters.
JIM WRAY
ROCKY MOUNT
Sleazy rhetoric from Rep. Bono
THANKS TO Rep. Sonny Bono's remark about President Clinton (Oct. 1 news article, ``Rep. Bono: Clinton's a crook''), we have a whole new meaning for the word sleazy.
Fortunately, Rep. Bob Goodlatte had the grace not to agree with Bono's statement.
ED NICHOLSON
ROANOKE
Light and truth are good medicines
LIBERALISM IS a disease peculiar only to humans. It doesn't appear to affect the physical anatomy, but preys on the minds and emotions of those who are weak in those areas. It isn't a disease that you'll find listed in medical journals, so there is no known drug that can be prescribed as an antidote. But there is a cure.
The sure cure for it is exposure to light and a frequent dose of truth. The greater the light, the quicker the cure. And the stronger the dose, the faster the cure.
A list of symptoms is too long to be printed, but if you feel that you're at risk, the best immunity is to become a Republican.
RICHARD K. COOKE
MONETA
LENGTH: Long : 147 linesby CNB