JUST app WATER AMONG THE 5,687 issues you can worry about as a parent, one that is right up there for me is what extent an aduit should pull a child into a certain ethical or po- : litical sphere. - The decision to involve a child * (let’s call a child anyone under 12) in the beliefs, values, organiza- . tions and crusades important to - “you is fraught with some basic questions: What right do we, as adults, have to implicate children ‘jn our own preferences and ac- -tions? | ; . ; .At what point, and in what cir- . cumstances, do you let children _ make decisions for.themselves? I'll swear on a stack of the best child development books | don’t know the answer. ' ' -Eyen ordinary, everyday deci- “sions one makes for a child can cause one to pause and ask ques- tions. 9: . Take table manners. My mother. emphasized and re-emphasized to us the importance of not talking with our mouths .full of food and . holding our knife and fork i in a “certain way. . [don’t want: to ‘spend ditiners Jooking at spaghetti in the mid- — ‘mastication point, but lask «|: myself: Is it really important that’ my two sons learn to put their.-.".. ‘knife down on the dinner plate 50° the blades face in (or is it out?)?, Then there’s the eternally sticky. a question of. piano lessons. “The thousands of Canadian kids ‘ who pounded out In An English Country Garden prove that you can lead a child to the keys but you can’t make them piay well enough to wow your friends with an evening of Bach. But I don’t resent my parents | for exposing me to the discipline . (and, they hoped, joy) of knowing : how to play a musical instrument. “Moving up several levels from table manneys and piano lessons, - -‘there’s the issue of espoused causes and positions. What about the father who was NVC: stand up and An open letter to North Van- couver City mayor and coun- cillors: Shaw Cable did. the North Shore a. service repeating the re- cent council meeting that dealt * with a submission on Doug Collins. » Collins' pursues, a policy. of spreading ° sufficient excrement that he is ensured some of it will : stick, somewhere, however little it is deserved. His column is racist and sexist. To refute much of what he says ‘requires activity that brings more attention to his fulminations than they deserved in the first place. ‘He promotes the most outra- geous statement of opinion ‘as fact. In short, he is a. journalistic bully, aided and abetted by publisher Peter. Speck and the North Shore News, -His ravings to council included - patent. falsehoods about Coun. Bell’s” position on immigration. Collins’ own position on immigra- tion is too well known to bother repeating his slander of Bell. Bell responded by asking Col- lins if he had ever read or heard ‘anything from. Bell on immigra- tion. Although he tried to evade answering, Collins finally conced- ed he had not. ‘Nothing was proved here, since those who had a human standard of logic and compassion abhor Collins. Those who follow him do so as an act of faith and refuse to be confused by fact. - The significant occurrence was that Bell and Sharpe stood up to be counted. Bell .was particularly eloquent. Whatever else he ac- complishes in public life, this may ’ prove to be his finest hour. He ended ” by saying that he CAS PAIR YOUR | WITH QUALITY PARTS: Tm so upseb ‘arrested last week for contempt of court with his two sons, ages 11. and 12? The three were trying to stop the logging of Clayoquot Sound... In the end, only the father was" charged, but did he act respon- - sibly in letting his sons defy the law? ‘He said he joined the blockade near Ucluelet at his sons’ request, but he has been called an ir- responsible parent. Trying to put myself in that fa- ther's shoes, I don’t know what I'd say if an 11-year-old child of mine was determined to march off would wear an attack from Col- lins as a badge of honor. The rest of council did not display the same courage and conviction. This is unfortunate. It will take considerable pressure from public figures for the advertisers of the News to re- alize that this bigot is a liability. It is long since time to stop treating ‘him as a comic figure. Coun, . Braithwaite, absent : from . this meeting, What say you? Terry Simpson North Vancouver you were important COOKING GRIDS, BURNERS IGNITION SYSTEMS, BRIQUETS Im goin: ‘to have another valtum . Pee 8 aot NO 2 Nate oe to a tense and potentially violent _ confrontation. Balancing the need to act as responsible stewards of a natural resource and giving people a live- lihood and some dignity through - jobs is a complex proposition. I wonder if even a bright 11- year-old can begin to understand that when you want an end to the logging of any area, that affects - . people, including the 11-year-old sons of loggers. There is a host of more trouble- some moral issues that should cause responsible, sensitive parents to stop and think about their in- EDIE THEE Dear Editor: As a non-white ex-South African, | know too well what it feels like to silence one’s speech. For a government to legislate against free speech in favor of anyone group is wrong, and I’ would not wish this.on my worst enemy. This brings me to Doug Col- lins, who proclaims that he’s a believer in free speech. However, whenever he wrote articles on South Africa (and he wrote many), not. once did TEEN IIEDS no Pens fluence on children. : I find it highly disturbing to see young children carrying signs and marching for either side i in the abortion debate. ; This is an issue that leaves many adults torn; I don’t believe a girl of 12 has done the sort of living you need to do to figure out where you stand on Abortion. | If | had a daughter. of that age and felt compelled to march in favor of one position, | know { wouldn't take my daughter along. 1 would probably explain my. posi- tion to her, then the other side’s, and invite her to think about i:cr own stand in the years ahead. Children are so impressionable that the questions of how, and if, we involve them in our choices becomes even more important. Organized religion (though I’ve . always wondered what disorganiz- ed religion is) is one of those areas in which a larger and larger seg- ment of the population seems reluctant to make decisions for children. ; . Parents today have doubts about what has been taken for granted for centuries — equipping your child with a faith. These parents tell you in so” many words that religion was forced down their throats and they aren’t going to do that to. their kids. Many of these people feel that their children should make up | their own minds ..: that they’II’ eventually make the right choice for themselves and will end up . happy and fulfilled people. You don’t have to go to'an en- counter group to meet people who - * feel they’re suffering for decisions io parents made on their behaif."' : : Many of these individuals might have a right to fee] some anger against their parents for these . decisions. . ‘ ' ' But surely what’ 5 important i is that parents keep trying to guide and direct their children. : . As teachers, youth and social workers and the police will tell a -you the real tragedy for kids is’ : : when adults don't care enough to be involved. Children don’ t ‘require that their. parents be perfect; they do require them to love enough not to bei in- : different. ; wes TS NNO be counted Obsessions ‘not freedom’ ~he mention that the. non-white. people there were without free speech. ; they had no say in their coun- try and their destiny. Perhaps Collins’ freedom of « speech and expression applies _ only to those. who are. white . Anglo-Saxon males and not * homosexual. However, when freedom of ‘speech ‘and expression becomes obsessive ‘and abusive, then it . no longer is a ‘‘freedom.’” Aiex Davids _ North Vancouver Highlands Animal Hospital, Seymour Animal X Care Clinic and Animal House Call Practice reminds all established & new clients that Drs. # Brad Gilbert & June Milliken will be available at’ f both practices. Sorry for any inconvenience or misunderstan- § ding regarding the July 11th ad. f Drs. Brad Gilbert & June Milliken and staff are looking forward to serving you at either location.