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I?Editorials?|
I
All Roads
?H*?! /i r? - J
io Groves Stadium
? We are appalled over the extent to which the Winston-Salem
Police Department went to facilitate the football game held at
Groves Stadium this past weekend. We feel that it is unfair to
U* . ? ? a a i? _ t* * ? ? ?
iiic tui^ciia 11vi ng m uie area Tor me ponce to divert all traffic on
30th Street into the stadium parking lot.
The police channeled all but one eastbound lane into the
parking area of Groves Stadium. All of the westbound lanes
were forced to go into the parking area.
We can see the need for some controlled access to the area.
' * * %
But, not to the extent of forcefully rerouting people not destined
to the Wake Forest game. Controlled access could have just as
easily been obtained by having all those policemen actively
divert traffic rather than channel everyone into the parking lot.
This approach would have shown consideration for people
attending the game as well as people going about their normal
Saturday affairs.
We hope that in the future the police department will be more
considerate of all the city's residents and not just the needs of a
few and their alumni friends.
~ Inmates To Benefit
From Getting Paid
The North Carolina Department of Corrections will soon have
inmates working on the state's roads again. We applaud the
decision. Even more commendable, however, is the fact that
these inmates will be getting paid for the first time.
Although the pay will be nominal ($1 per day in some cases)
we still believe that the benefits derived by both the inmate and
the Corrections Department will more than justify the expense.
For the inmate, it will provide a means for purchasing items
?that-would otherwise he beyond his means. It will also keep
some weaker inmates from depending on stronger inmates
thereby lessening the propensity for homosexual activity. And it
will also begin to give the inmates a feeling of integrity. He will
no longer be "working for the man," but for himself. This
undoubtedly will decrease the contempt that most inmates feel
for correction's people.
On the other hand, the corrections department will benefit
because inmates will have something constructive to do with .
their time. Idleness heiehtens the frustrations nfhpino in nncn?
^ ? ? __ w ? ? *>v>aw v a w V a |/ > hjv/ a I
and facilitates homosexual activity Snd rioting. Too much idle
?* time gives inmates a chance to think about the negative aspects
of incarceration.
The state will also save money by paying inmates to work.
The state's highways have to be worked on at some point in
time. If they have to hire outside help then certainly they will
have to pay more than what they are proposing to pay the
inmates. s
We believe that paying inmates is a good first step in the
rehabilitative process, but only a first step. There needs to be
more innovative programs for inmates. And we hope the
corrections department will see the wisdom in not only paying
inmates, but making an honest attempt to rehabilitate them as
well.
I THE WINSTON-SALEM CHRONICLE is pebHshed every II
I Thnrsdsy by the Winston-Salem Chronicle PnbHshhig Co.,
I lac. 2208 N. Patterson Ave. Mailing Address: P.O. Box II
I 3154, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102, Phone: 722-8624 I
I Second Class Postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102 M
I Subscription: S8.32 per year payable fas advance (N.C. II
I Sales tax badnded] I
I Edltor-fes-Chlef Ernest H. Pitt 1
PvUhlwr NdibM Egmooyc
I Bails i n EdMer Charles T. Byrd Jr. I
Office Manager oooeo Mrs. Frances Bradley
I Opinions expressed by i slamalst la this newspaper do not II
astessaiBy represent the policy of this newspaper.
6
The Winston-Salem Chronicle
TIo SyuU
- ?
The beginning of the school
year should be welcomed by
young people anxious to get
back to their studies, but in all
too many cases it will be
characterized by fear' of
violence. *>
Each year there are reports
of assaults, vandalism, and
worse in the nation's schools.
No area seems to be immune,
city schools and rural ones
face a rising tide of anti-social t
1 * * *
oenavior and violence. In
some places, many students
tote knives and even guns to
their classrooms.
The inevitable response to
this has been demands for
more police in the schools and
imposition of rigid discipline.
Some say that kids accused of
breaking school rules should
be suspended or expelled, and
a few even argue for the
return of corporal punishment.
That's predictable. Equally
predictable is the failure of
such steps. Turning the
schoolhouse into an armed
camp guarded by cops
inevitably results in esclation
of violence and a poisoning of
the educational atmosphere.
True, some kids simply
cannot continue to remain in
the classrooms they disrupt,
or to roam among the
youngsters they terrorize. It
only takes a handful of armed
youths to turn a school into a
house of terror for the majority
that want to study.
But simply kicking them out
of school solves nothing. The
system hasn't devised ways to
handle kids that need special
%
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f Vernon E. J
treatment. Suspensions only
deepen their frustrations and
encourage them to act out
their aggressive feelings. And
dumping them into juvenile
jails is a sure presciption for
turning;Jhem into hardened
law-breakers.
A iU - 1 -?
miu uicrc s? a real element
of hypocrisy when adults wail
about youths packing pistols
and then fight gun controls tht
"^Would effectively cut off
access to potential deathdealing
weapons for all.
Violent-prone and weaponwielding
young people can't
be allowed to bully their peers
and teachers, but they also
need concerned help and
assistance that special schools
can provide. Focusing on
controlling the problem and
not on the solutions can only
compound the situation.
To the extent that school
violence is a reflection of
societal problems whose
orisin is in economic and
social disadvantage, it will
only be solved when poverty,
gross inequality and antisocial
attitudes are reduced.
Educators must be aware of
this, and of the futility of still
more calls for more cops.
A more realistic approach
would be to examine what
there is in the school
environment that turns some
kids off and allows the others
to at least tolerate their
behavior. A school in which
kids are interested in their
classroom work, respect their
principal and teachers, and
have developed a cohesive
school spirit is a school not
September 13, 1975
jtyifliyLLw .
ordan, Jr.
v % i
likley to have discipline
problems, no matter what kind
of neighborhood it's in.
It's a lot easier for educators
to blame social factors among
their students and to call for
more police than it is to face
up to the very real failures of
schools that bore their
students and are infected byf>
hostility. Of all the many
factors so often mentioned in
reports about school violence
this one of school environment
is the most important and
most ignored. In
fact, the drive to combat
school violence could well
become a factor itself in
helping to build a constructive
school environment. The key
is cooperation between students,
teachers and parents to
make the school safer.
Working as teams with
shared responsibilities could
well build the trust and liking
so noticeably absent from so
many schools. Formation of
student patrols gives kids
responsibilities and a feeling
of self-worth, both of which
are damaged when their
schools are turned over to
gun-toting uniformed guards.
A realistic approach to the
problem of violence in the.Q
schools demands programs
that turn the schools into
pleasant, constructive places
for students and teachers
alike, while protecting the
right to learn from those who
would sabotage it.
wr1