© ~ Sunday, February 1, 1998 — North Shore News north shore news VIEWPOINT Sex silence EX and drugs and rock-and- roll. According to four of the seven North Vancouver school district trustees, the teenage stu- dents under their tutelage are not sufficiently equipped to handle ques- tions about two of these three sub- jects. Guess which ones. The North Vancouver District 44 school board last week refused a request by a non-profit Burnaby- - based xesearch company to circulate a survey in North Vanceuver high schools. _ — .Resuits from The Adolescent Health Survey — which will be filled out by students in other districts — will be used by government agencies in their youth health education pro- grams. The questionnaire sought to probe the young minds for their thoughts on many aspects of health, including sex and illegal drugs. Too frank, trustees clucked. Too explicit. Might give the kids some ideas. Wrong. Who better to comment on these coming-of-age aspects of life than the teenage segment of society? Are these not the same kids that education officials often refer to as “the next generation” of leaders in our society? Shielding their children from the ugly realities of iife is the prerogative of every parent. But elected schoo! board officials especiaily on the marginal strength of a 4-3 vote — have no business censoring the thoughts and actions of students in their district. “mailbox NV. students bring good news to Africa Dear Editor: . .. Watching television can give the impression that Africa is filled with death and despair. Recent news tells of mass _ killings in Algeria and power struggles in Rwanda. But the media often miss the positive stories such as the work in developing countries funded by students from the North Vancouver area. Their participation in World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. has lielped save lives. ° Despite che wars with their front page coverage, peace “+ and’ stability is reality in some parts of Africa. The official : end of apartheid in South Africa marked a milestone in the history of mankind. In neighboring Mozambique, millions “of displaced people are returning home and rebuilding their .__livés after years of civil war. Mozambicans are rediscovering, ; productivity. through agricultural packages provided by local teens who support World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. “Improved health care, using methods such as oral rehy- dration therapy, saves the lives of millions who could have “diced from casy-to-treat intestinal viruses. Life expectancy in ”\. Africa has increased from 40 to 51 years. Again, students from:the North Varicouver area have invested in these pro- “ grams through World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. -. < ‘This good news story does not grab headlines. But thanks ‘to people who are willing to see beyond the flow of negative media coverage, we are making a difference. Gordon King "area manager, British Columbia ... World Vision Canada MAILBOX POLICY. LETTERS to the editor must be legible (preferably type- “ written) and include your name, full address and tele- hone number. Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 ut still: must be signed and fully addressed. i north shore Werth Share News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quaktied under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the } Bs a A society of ‘trained idiots?’ *The problem ain’t what folks don’t know, it’s what they know that ain’t so.” — Josh Billings NEVER has the basic problem fac- ing today’s media been better defined than by humorist Billings — especial- ly in relation to last week’s coverage of the “Clinton sex scandal.” Deadline for this col- umn being, Thursday, Pve no idea what may have happened to Bill, Hillary, Monica, Paula and all the other characters by the time you read it three days later. Bur it doesn’t much matter. Today’s idle thoughts are about the perils lurking in this age of instant communication — which keeps us in touch every waking second with everyone, everywhere, about everything. The current White House capers have merely provided one spectacular example of what can happen when no single morsel of knowledge or ignorance — truth or lics — anywhere on the globe is ever more than a couple of keystrokes away. Accusations. Denials. Counter-accusa- tions. Eye-witness reports. Eye-witness reports denied and withdrawn. Immunity negotiations. White House staffers sub- poenaed. Conspiracy charges. Sinking popularity polls. Resignation calls. Impeachment rumors. Statc-of-the-Union euphoria. Hillary’s damage control. Women rallying to Bill ... Each succeed- ing newscast makes the head reel faster. Information-overload combined with dog-eat-dog competi- tion among the media to be first and fastest with the latest would be a dizzying enough combination, even if the information were akways 100% accurate. But of course it doesn’t begin to approach that standard and never can. In part this is due to the lighting rate at which data is now col- lected, processed and disseminated via phone, fax, voice-mail, e-mail and other Internet sites. Speed — the be-all-and-end-all of the media game today — is a natural enemy of accuracy. Equally bad is the stale, unrevised data that clutters the Internet from originators too lazy or forgetful to keep it constantly updated. Meanwhile, the effects on ordinary citizens of info-overload produced by gal- loping technology hit much closer to home than the White House. Scores of strangers — from banks to pharmacists, from realtors to travel agents, from your car dealer to your friendly local supermarket — have detailed data on your financial situation, your job, your health, your household, your buying habits and your recreational preferences. Every time you use a credit card or bank debit card you add to their treasure house of details about you and yours. Some treasure house, too! Because not © only do those you deal with constantly °- expand it for their own purposes, they also sell their information on you to other businesses in pursuit of your money (how else does all that junk mail arrive?). Info-overload is also leading to a wor- rying new addiction among those who would never dream of succumbing to alcohol or drugs. A recent international survey of 1,000 business people found 53% admitted to a drug-like “craving” for information, while 54% claimed to get a. :. “high” when they found ir electronically, regardless of whether it was of any use.to them. ‘ . One university psychology professor |, has dubbed this “dataholism” the new “drug of the ’90s.” : For the last word on what's at stake in ~” all this — instant, unrestricted and fre- quently inaccurate communication that so often leaves us “knowing what ain’t so” +: — Burnaby writer and media-watcher George Case is hard to beat. : “We risk,” he writes, “creating a soci-:; ety of knowledge slaves, of civilized bar- barians, of trained idiots. Some would say we already have one.” goo - a MANY HAPPY RETURNS of Tuesday, » Feb. 3, fo West Van Kiwanian Joe : Lindsey. 000 _ WRIGHT OR WRONG: To make sure your flight leaves on time, get to the air- port three minutes late. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, tull address & telephone number. 2Be MBER MSBRESREEY! Eee Si & 2a Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, : Friday and Sesday by North Shore Free Press ‘ Lid. and disinbuted te every door on the Nevth Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail PETER SPEC: ‘Sales Product Agreement No, 0087238 Publisher 985-2131 (101) A ie, iA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca Doug Foot Comptrover 985-2131 (133) thy Rares Managing Extitor 965-2131 (116) Michaal Becker - News Editor 985-2131 (114) Andrew McCredie - Sports/Community Editor 985-2131 (147) cama octet nstribution Manat we 906-1337 (124), 965-2131 (127) 61,2582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday} The Nosth Shore News is published by North Shore Free Press Ltd., Publisher Peter Speck, from 1139 Lansdale Avenue Worth Vancouver, 6.C., V7M 2H4 985-2031 (218) 985-2131 (105) Internet: hitp:/javew.nsnews.com Display Manages 985-21: 906-6222 (202) 900-0511 (166) Entire contents © 1997 torth Shore Free Press Ltd, All rights reserved. , Stephenson Photography Manager Classified Managet 3t (160)