Congratulations to Rick
Smith for catching and grinding the
hypocrisy of Clinton and helping to
surface the real issues at stake in
his article “Society to Blame for
Littleton Massacre.” (OP, May 1999)
I'm sure anyone who has been the
victim of bullying or teasing could
understand where the two boys who
went on the shooting rampage were
coming from. It was not the best
way to solve their problems, but
killing someone’s self confidence is
ot a crime society should overlook
ither. Sure, getting teased and
icked on happens to everyone and
elps build character, but there’s a
imit to everything. How long can
omeone function normally while
nowing they're literally an outcast
their own society, despised and
ocked by everyone? Is it really
ong to suggest being a little
inder and more considerate with

e people around you? 0r, at least
ave respect for their feelings. Treat
eople the way you want to be
eated; it’s not such a big sacrifice
onsidering the aftermath you could
e avoiding.

I can only hope we all take a look
t the “man in the mirror” before
ointing our finger at whoever is
ortrayed in the mainstream media
s villain.

Zahra Jamal

Society? Not likely
Dear Mr. Smith,
In reading your

ss ier parte:
LITTLETO

last month’s issue of
the Other Press I found
that you are exactly
the type of person I
don’t want running this
country. That’s not to say that
you're alone in this, it’s just that
you are part of a huge number of
people that doesn’t want to take
the blame for anything. You and
your group instead, blame things
on “society” or “television” or
other such ambiguous entities.

I will take a great leap of faith
and assume you are an educated
man and being an educated man,
you may have read Aldus
Huxley's, A Brave New World. In
that book, society could be
blamed for the actions of its peo-
ple because the people in that
novel were grown and created to
think, act and look a certain way.
However, in this world, we are
created by a sperm fertilizing an
egg, which means that usually we
have a set of “parents.” These
parents should take it upon them-
selves to not teach about right
and wrong, but to explain the
options open to their offspring
and let them choose for them-
selves. This would mean “commu-
nicating” with our children and
young adults beyond “how was
your day at school.”

Speaking of school, how do you

intend to implement this “teacher

on every corner” policy? Have you
ever taught at an elementary or
secondary school? Do you have
friends that do? I have friends
who teach in these environments
and I can tell you that their days
are full enough without having to
give up their lunch hours and
recesses to supervise children that
they must look after for six hours
every day. Also, we hardly have
enough teachers in this province
to just teach our young people,
are we going to raise taxes to pay
for these “supervisors”? Are you
willing to pay for that Mr. Smith?

If these “supervisors” that you
request in your article are put in
place, bullying and other abusive
behaviour won't be wiped out, it
will simply be driven underground
where it will become more violent
with more gruesome results. Do
you remember the problems
Japanese schools had a few years
back with bullies? How the bullies
would conduct their business out
of the public’s eye, often with the
result being the suicide of the
victim. Would you like to bring
that over here Mr. Smith?

People need to stop blaming
ambiguous entities like “society”
and start taking responsibility for
their own actions. Your article
didn’t persuade me Mr. Smith. It
frightened me.

Hamish Knox

June 1999 the Other Press page 5