June 3rd, 2008
The Register Star’s Community Viewpoints Board is set to meet again later this month.
The last time the board met, members weighed in on the newspaper’s Editorial Agenda. They thought it should include these goals: change mind-sets; educate our citizens; improve race relations; encourage good growth; strive for social justice; and prevent crime.
Start the discussion. What kind of progress do you think has been made on these goals in 2008? Has the movement been forward or backward? Cite examples and rate the progress on each goal from 1 (nothing’s happening) to 5 (great leaps forward).
June 3rd, 2008
Les Reid, who was a Belvidere School Board vice president from 1995 to 2003, called me a while back with an idea on how to help truants.
He said he was touched by a news story in which a child said she had nothing to come home to at the end of the school day.
He wondered what could happen if kids like that could be housed in dormitories and have the appropriate support structure. His idea would be to have the kids in the dorms during the school week and then go home on weekends.
The dorm life could ensure the kids got fed properly, that there was someone there to help with homework, and that there were adults and students around to offer encouragement.
The plan would be costly at first, but the eventual benefit to the kids and to society would outweigh that.
The idea sounds similar to orphanage homes, but with more freedom to come and go.
What do you think?
