Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / Feb. 1, 2000, edition 1 / Page 3
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febuary 00 opinions page 3 Depriving children of their rights heather fried America seems to have the notion that children are not people. We eagerly pat them on the head and laugh at their antics, but never take them seriously or give their intelligence the credit it deserves, especially in the decision of what is best for the child. Stories about custody battles are making headlines in primetime news pro grams. A recent story involves two brothers, both given after birth to be raised by a lov ing family, where they could remain together and escape growing up in a household where the motljer was neither financially nor emo tionally able to care for '' them' and where they would live with a man that beats their mother. It is a sad thing indeed to see the courts even consider honoring the request of the biologi cal mother who now wants to bring the youngest of those boys, now three and a half years old, back into that house. Doing so would deprive him of the wonderful people he believes to be his parents and the older brother he loves more than anyone in the world. Such a move ment would in no way be in his best interest. The judge has only to ask him whether he would want to move, as his current parents al ready have, and the is sue could be easily and favorably decided. Headlines about Baby Isaiah and other children in his situ ation make the front pages of our most pres tigious newspapers weekly. Magazines and hour-long television shows continuously nm stories about the latest custody battle raging in the United States and about the toddler that has captured America’s heart. Unfortunately, too many of these sagas end tragically for so many in nocent children. While the judges hearing these cases look carefully at both parties fighting for custody, it seems that they tend to overlook the most important person in the whole affair; the child. It would seem that after seeing child after child ripped away kicking and screaming from the only home life he has ever known, and deliv ered into the hands of people who before either did not want him or were unfit to properly rear him, that judges might start to put the best interests of the children at heart. Yet when was the last time you heard a three-year old asked who they would prefer to live with? Contrary to popular belief, children do have a very good idea of what is right for them. We trust that when they push their plates away they have eaten enough, and that when they wake up in the wee hours of the morning they have slept enough. Why can we not invest that same trust in their judgement when it per tains to their emotional well-being? It can not be that a smaller stat ure and a smaller vo cabulary warrants giving a person less rights, for dwarves and idiots in this country are allowed to choose a home life that best suits them. The only answer to this ques tion seems to be that the time-honored con stitutional phrase ‘all men are created equal’ does not apply to chil dren. Indeed, Americans boast about the incredible fairness of the U.S. court system while a large percentage of the population is being stripped of its rights, exploited by the press, and ripped from their happy homes. The jus tification of the judges is in the mistaken idea that a child’s genetic parents are the most qualified for raising it. Why mess with a good thing? If a child is in a happy, sup portive environment where he or she is well taken care of, do not take them away unless they agree to go. If so cial services does not believe that a child is old enough to make a decision than wait im- til it is old enough rather than force it to undergo a traumatic experience. Powwow~P 1 a Veterans dance to honor all of those who had fought in wars. The program then continued with dancing and singing. After a break for dinner, the activities resumed with another Grand Entry at seven o’clock and the powwow continued until around ten o’clock. All through the day’s events, various Native American arts and crafts, from peashooters and dream catchers to jewelry and clothing, were on exhibit and for sale by the vendors. Every year, the powwow is an amazing opportunity to experi ence Native American culture. TheNCSSM powwow has grown a great deal in its relatively short history. Tliis year, there was not even room enough for all of the drum groups that showed up to play. This fabulous tradition has come a long way, and each year it continues to enhance the variety of cultural awareness at NCSSM. Powwow organizers hope that next year’s powwow will be as much a success as this year’s spectacular event. A balanced educational NGSSM shannon meyer A definite bias ex ists in our society towards mathematics and the sci ences. After all, physics makes the world go ‘round, and math is re sponsible for our continu ously compounded bank accounts. Time and again I’ve seen and read the dis respect with which people involved with the more technical side of life treat the hiunanities. But po ets, musicians, and En glish teachers deserve just as much respect as engineers, nuclear physi cists, and chemistry teach ers. When did how fast our cars go become more important than our feel ings and our relations with other people? Much of my happiness in life comes from the literature that I read and my love for music. Though efficient calculators, running water, and satellites are great conveniences, they do not contribute to a more meaningful or fulfilling life. Poetry, novels, music, and film all help us tap our hu manity, while many tech nological advances only work to stifle it. The Internet is a prime ex ample; it allows people to live, or should I say merely subsist, without even leaving the house. Furthermore, the humanities are essential to understanding ourselves and the world in which we live. Modern govern ments rely on social and political history to help them avoid revolutions by dealing successfully with class struggles, thus mak ing our peachy little world all the more safe to drive our energy efficient cars and enjoy our artificial or gans. Books and papers have been the instigators of revolutions, political as well as scientific, social, and intellectual, through out history. And music has been a prime source for the expression and in spiration of not only love or desire, but also of po litical messages, as in the songs of the 1960’s, and morale boosters, as in “The Star-Spangled Ban ner,” which carried us through the War of 1812 with pride. That anyone can disregard the power of the written word or song or consider it less than the forces of gravity or electricity astounds me. Sadly, this bias is quite evident in the fact that everyone reading this newspaper attends the School of Science and Mathematics; notice there is no mention of any hu manities in this title. Granted, North Carolina does have a school dedi cated to the arts, but the arts alone. So I suppose anyone looking to attain a higher level of education in English, history, foreign languages, and so on, while in high school is just out of luck. I do appreciate this school, but it could use some changes. Many of my peers and I came to NCSSM for the opportu nity to get a better, more challenging, education in general. I have always ex celled in all of my coinses, until 1 came here, of course, but my forte is in English, not chemistry or calculus. And the school’s Humanities De partment is wonderful, but it deserves some recogni tion and some expansion. Many students have men tioned the addition of a drama class to the coiurse list, and my personal pref erence leads me to feel that another history class that is not paired with an English, as opposed to a course such as WRRD, could be used. I realize that suggesting a name change is too radical to be taken seriously, but it might help admissions and make those of us who are not so inclined toward science and math feel less guilty about being here. During my inter view for admissions to this school, I was asked how I would give back to the state of NortfrCarolina for what they have invested in me by paying for my education here. No doubt the desired answer was to come back and be a doc tor or build better bridges. But I believe that I can contribute just as much to the state and world as a whole by coming back and writing a wonderful novel, composing music, or teaching history. Native American woman .sales dolts at Ninth Aniial Powwow.
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Student Newspaper
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Feb. 1, 2000, edition 1
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