- DARE
- An Ounce Of Prevention
- Pay now or pay continuously later.
Again we find ourselves in a priority fight. To be or not to be is the
question. We who are interested in a strong nation of men and women or
are we more interested in building more prisons and living in misery? To
be builders of anything strong, it is important to understand the need
for the proper tools and dedicated technicians. The tools referred to here
are programs which build character and awareness. The technicians are those
persons who use the tools to shape and bind in such a manner that aid boys
and girls into growing to be strong, productive citizens. A great problem
with dealing with the human animal is that there is no way to efficiently
test the results of efforts used to develop an individual into a strong
adult citizen at the time or soon after the building process. This alludes
to processes of or programs of education especially. For any educator to
even expect to find a tried and true method of evaluating the effects of
programs which are designed to be one of the tools in the building of strong
citizens is shortsighted and narrow. DARE is only an ounce of prevention
or just one of the tools which is being used in this building process.
For some reason, a large number of educators seem to exhibit a feeling
that some kind of standardized test or statistical information can be applied
to everything we do. If this were true there wouldnÕt be so many
efforts to build so many more prisons and correctional centers. No one
would have put forth such a proposal as was recently announced. The announcement
of a plan to build a penal facility designed to have twelve hundred beds
requiring a staff of five hundred is questionable at best. Such a proposal
seems rather wasteful in light of the fact ratio of students to members
of and educational staff is no where found in our society. One of the great
problems of continuing to include the DARE program in our middle school
seem to be a mere $83,000.00. This expenditure is small when compared to
other things for which we provide funds. If anything there should be efforts
to expand and to broaden the DARE program unless we have something better
to offer. There are ways to find money to sponsor such programs as DARE
programs. It is clear that we have no means of taxing income from illegal
drug sales, but there are funds realized from many drug arrests and property
seized during drug arrests. There is a possibility of adding a stronger
tax on the purchase of alcohol and tobacco. Since many of the decisions
and recommendations in our society frown on the use of these products,
those who must indulge should contribute more readily to the prevention
of such by our youth. It is high time for those citizens who feel that
building a strong, well informed citizenry by investing more in youth education
to stand up and be counted. If we continue as we are in placing emphasis
on things other that our youth, which we seem to be having less and less
time for, the pursuit of happiness and safety will be more of a lost dream.
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- TRUE RECREATION
Recreation for the city of Lynchburg has been
a topic of many discussion. Whether to build a large complex or to build
and to maintain recreation facilities in communities throughout the citv
appears to be the quesfion. Most discussions seem to center around the
economics of the two choices. There have even been suggestions about building
a small complex with some emphases on making small investments in ommunity
recreation. Regardless to how many discussions you hear about, there is
the underlying idea that economics play the greater part in the ideas put
fort. There are those who are busy promoting the idea as a means of making
Lynchburg into a central sports center which would attract tournaments,
regional conferences and tourism. The so called Sports Authority is said
to envision drawing folk to Lynchburg for three or four day weekends. This
in effect is a move to commercialize rather than to truly provide recreation
for the citizens of the city. Such thinking and promotions have very little
to do with the health of the city. Some important questions to be considered
are: at's healthy about a city with lots of money while riddled with diseases?
How can a city rid itself of infectious diseases when its every discussion
is based on producing more money? The diseases referred to are crime, drugs,
despair, fear, greed, tension and ignorance. It would be foolhardy to even
think that any one program, such as recreation could cure or prevent the
vast number of diseases found in this or any other city . It is wise to
understand that recreation for the sake of recreation and not recreation
for profit can be instrumental in curing and in many cases preventing some
of the diseases. There is a need to promote a program of recreation that
will serve each community as a unit within itself. Such a program could
be designed to be available to each and every citizen within the boundaries
of the city. When considering the economics of such programming, there
is clearly a need for great expenditure of funds. Such an expenditure of
funds require an understanding of source of such funds. If we can find
fimds to try in our courts and to incarcerate criminals, we can surely
find funds for positive recreational programs. Funds provided for recreation
give greater return than prisons and correctional institutions. A great
part of the crimes committed in today's society are the fruits of an unhealthy
society. It is past time for us to find ways to invest in people to such
an extent that boys and girls can grow up with minds that are healthy enough
to build strong futures. Boys and girls should be allowed to be children
until they have completed high school. The pressures placed on families
today resulting from a devaluation of the dollar are truly debilitating.
Those who live by greed and prey on others in an effort to build monuments
to themselves create a most unhealthy environment for all. If people were
afforded opportunities to recreate regularly and interact with each other
in wholesome activity, the health of our conununities would improve remarkably.
Boys and girls would learn to get along with each other, respect themselves,
their parents and others in whom they come in contact. They could develop
strong minds which would make good decisions and be positive contributors
to society. Children with strong healthy minds and bodies grow up to be
strong productive citizens. They likewise grow to be wonderful parents.
One of the clearest pictures in our experience portray a group of children
and adults who are growing or have grown up in an unhealthy society. In
many cases. it is too late for many but not too late for all. If we would
just put aside the greed and take steps to heal our sick society and to
build a stronger society by investing in humanity a prettier picture will
be before us. The interest from such an investment will not directly show
up as figures in our bank statement. The interest will be in the form of
peace and comfort living with our fellow citizens and in the long rtm,
we will find a decreased need to support and build large prisons. Our streets
will be safer, pain and suffering bought on by humans mistreating other
humans will nearly disappear. W. E. Clark, III
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