Page 2, THE HERALD, Wednesday. September 6, 1978 . EDITORIAL ' Today, in Kitimat and Terrace, some 6,000 boys and girls are starting back to school. Across Canada, the number totals close to 5 million. In the U.S. it's $0 million - and, around the world, something in the neighbourhood of half a billion. Many of these, from five to eight per cent, will be experiencing their very first day at school. For some, it will be their first day of separation from their family and their home; a frightening experience. It is these tots, around the age of 5 years, that Wateh Out Por Ride School was back on Tuesday, September 5th, motorists, and you'll have to share the morning roads once again, advises the B.C. Automobile Association. A - Remember there will be many small children on the streets and crossing at intersections - many of whom have never been to school before. They will be excited and may not pay full at- tention to their feet so be extra cautious. Leave for work a little earlier than usual and carefully observe school zone speed limits of 30 The BCAA advises parents not to drive their children to or from school. The reason, BCAA says, is that each driving parent adds to traffic congestion around schoo! buildings, and presents an unnecessary hazard to the little ones. This advice applies especially to inclement days. School: this editorial will deal with. For, to them, the first day can influence their entire attitude towards the school learning process. A traumatic first day can mean 13 dreadful years ahead; it can méan dropping out as soon as they can get permission. Or, if the first day goes weil, they will have been spared the agonies, the fears, the heartaches and suffering no one but they will know - not even the teacher, or their closest friends. Such suffering cannot be com- municated, or shared. Rather it is bottled up, tightly, inside. A mother might suspect some of it - but not even she will ever know the full impact unless she, herself, went throtigh the same or- deal and - most important - only if she still remembers. These first timers will be entering a strange envirtonment. These first timers will be entering a strange environment. From their familiar surroundings of home they abruptly find themselves in a multi- room, brightly lighted bewildering complex. From a family of three to five or six - suddenly First Days Au Omepontant : they are surrounded by hordes of strangers they have never seen before, and who not only do not know but also do not care about them. There is nothing the first day pupil can identify with, as he or she enters the seemingly hostile and foreign environment, on his own. The child has no way of getting in touch with his family if anything goes wrong. Often has no idea of how to get home from school, if he should need to go home. Fear, perhaps, produces a full bladder - and the child may not know how to get to the bathroom, and is too frightened or confused to ask. A friendly hand at the school door, if the child is lucky, will inspire confidence, and then will begin the familiarization program of where to hang up his clothing. The “facilities” will be explained - but the main things - the burning questions in the child’s mind will often be left unanswered. These are: How long will I have to stay here before I can go home? Who will protect me from the other kids, bigger and tougher than I? How can I get in touch with my family, in an Automobiles manoeuvring to drop young i. . passengers create confusing traffic patterns in ‘school areas, sometimes contributing to serious accidents. Children running haphazardly across traffic lanes to enter and leave the family car are exposed to great danger. Instead teach them safe walking - and for rainy days supply them with good-fitting, light- - coloured raincoats an rain hats. Parents should walk with their children the first few days of school, and meet them af- a ne terwards. Leave in plenty of time, so they don’t have to hurry, but can learn to walk ‘safely, advises the auto club. . If there is a school bus available, walk with them to the bus stop and for a few days meet them at the stop as they arrive home. Shortly they will want to walk to school or to the bus “alone” - which may mean with friends, but without an adult. 7 j Point out to the youngsters also why the chosen 5 . route is best, and why alternate routes are less desirable, though they might be shorter. Wherever possible choose controlled in- tersections for the child to cross. At crossings with traffic signals, explain the meaning of the red-yellow-green sequence, andteach children to start across only at the beginning of the green signal. ‘Teach them to watch carefully for turning cars and explain that the signal is only an aid to safe crossing. Children should still look in all directions before and during crossing. In the same way children must learn to watch for the green light, they should learn to watch for thie “go” signal given by a traffic officer, adult crossing guard or school safety patrol and to stay at the curb until the signal is given. Explain to your child that the older youngster is a friend who is there to help watch for a safe time to cross. The parent should himself demonstrate respect by observing directions of the patrol member. Some streets children must cross may be unguarded. Teach them to look in all directions before stepping off the curb and to proceed only when there is a good break in traffic. Ask them to walk, never run, across the street. On two-way streets, they should check carefully to the left until reaching centre, and to the right as they complete the crossing. Finally, point out that the walk to school is no time for play. Playing tag, or any diverting game while walking, creates hazards where hone existed. Remember that children are imitative. A parent’s own actions in traffic will influence the child’s development of traffic habits. It parents walk safely, children very likely will, too. . TERRACE/KITIMAT daily herald Published by Sterling Publishers General Office - 635.6357 Clrevlation - 635-6357 PUBLISHER - Laurle Mallett EDITOR - Ernie Senior REPORTER REPORTER - CIRCULATION Pat Zellnski 632-2747 CIRCULATION Jayce Fish 635-6357 KITIMAT OFFICE - 632-2747 Published every weekday at 3212 Kalum Street, Terrace, B.C, A member of Varifled Circulation. Authorized as second class mail. Registration number 1201. Postage paid In cash, return postage guaranteed. NOTE OF COPYRIGHT The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright in any advertisement produced and-or any editorial or photographic content published In the Herald. Reproduction Is not permitted without ihe written ‘ . % BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE , OAKVILLE, ONT., -- A 1904 Model C Ford, believed to be one of the earliest cars produced by Ford of Canada at its original plant at Walkerville, Ont. (now Wind- sor), was on hand this week when the first of a brand new generation of cars from Ford rolled off the assembly line here 75 years after the company first commenced operations. The new car, the 1979 Ford: LTD, is the 75th new model to be produced by the company in as many years of operation in Canada. . The new LTD will appear at Ford dealerships Sept. 29. On hand for the occasion were Roy F. Bennett (right), - president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited, and Harold K, Embree, president of the Hamilton Automobile Club. Canada’s first auto club, the group is also celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. .. After hours of waiting in Hineups at Vancouver, one couple we know had their Air Canada tickets accepted at face value by C.P. Air-who had converted an air liner t© allow 80 seats for standby Air Canada passengers, .. Every courtesy was shown to us by the CP em- ployees who went out of thelr way to make us com- fortable" afriend phoned us on his arrival at Toronto, after a thirteen hour wait In sancouver. “Everybody was screaming at them, and complaining and short tempered. CP was under no obligation to honour their tickets, or to put up with their complaints, but they did _7 and remained surprisingly pleasant. I am sure they have won a number of new customers, One thing for aure,” I'll never travel Air Canada again, if I can go .. VIA Rall service, now joint passenger agent for CN- ‘CP have pushed every piece of equipment it can muster into service and is sald to be turning passengers away - for the first Gme in many years. With antiquated rail cars - many over fifty years old, and having fallen far behind today's standards of travel, reaction to many of the passengers left stranded by Air Canda will not likely be as favourable. For many, though, for whom it will be the first time they have been able to see the country in allits beauty, so close at hand, once the anxiety of having to get home quickly has passed, consideration will be given to leisurely travel without the hassels of air terminals | and highway traffic - at least for medium distances, by rail. Especially once the passenger service is modernized. Letters tr. thee Editor Propoud B.C. rgency? ono is the child usually informed WHY he is in school, or that he w ‘be forced to gO Ap- proximately 200 days a year, for the next 18 years (2500 days) and, more likely, by that time, will be faced with another six years of higher education. A thoroughly frightening, horrifying, prospect Should the experience initially prove distasteful. : I have talked with many & child who was beaten up on the first day at school. “I looked up - at the laughing strange faces in a circle around me, as I lay on the hard playground, after being knocked down by the school bully” one man told me.I realized I could not get away - but even if I could escape, I didn’t know in which direction my home was. My knees were bleeding - and I had never bled before. The boy who had knocked me down was still towering over me, his fists clenched, As long as I live, Ill never forget that day! A Jewish buddy of mine, when I was overseas in the Last War, told me of his first day at school | in Montreal. “Somehow the kids, even that early in life, were aware I was “different”. The roughing up I received was bad enough. The worst part was those words I had screamed at me -, “Christ Killer”. I didn’t know what they meant, I was afraid to tell my parents when I got home, and was punished because my new clothes were torn and damaged. My father had made me a suit, and was proud of it. None of the other boys wore suits, though, and this made me very conspicuous. I was the only “Jew Boy” in Grade One. My parents had coached me and I was already able to read and write. I soon found out it was only asking for trouble to be “smart” - the other kids only resented me for it. So I concentrated on sports, being careful not to be too good at that, either, or the same insults about my Jewish origins would be brought out, against me - only ’ more subtly, now, since I learned how to use my fists to defend myself.” So far I have dealt only with boys. At the risk of sounding prejudiced, I will say tht girls seem to adapt more easily. The teacher is nearly always female, in the early grades, and identifies better with little women. At the age of five, there is an unspoken war between boys and girls. Still, there are certain special hazards to be encountered if the little girl is wearing a dress to school on her first day, and if she does not have any ; friends starting with her with whom she can identify. Women have told me that it was during their initiation to school life they first became aware they were living in a predominantly male world. In later years they realized impressions they obtained of their role as women came from their early textbooks. These showed..boys far. and ‘away superior in intellect and strength, to girls, . ’ There, too, they learned the power of tears, and the importance of being beautiful. A pretty girl could get almost anything she wanted. The only chance a plain girl had was to be a genius, but life for a Plain Jane genius was a lot more lonely than it was for Miss Dumb but Beautiful’. I have talked tomany many children, since my own experience. many decades ago, when I began school as a British child in a foreign land (India). Even through born there, because of my colour, I would be at a disadvantage and would always bea “foreigner”. Without being aware of it, a choice would have to be made - that of aligning myself with those of the same background: the ‘Europeans”, the “C.B.” - country born, or mixed (Eurasians) - and those who were secure in the knowledge they belonged there - the Native Indians, This latter group were, in turn, frae- tured into groups of caste and religion. Dividing all this - all these subdivisions - was the law of Sex. The Boys and the Girls, India, being a country where women are traditionally subservient to men, being a girl child, entering school for the first time must have been even more traumatic than it was for me, a boy. ‘Even though Canada is one of the more “enlightened” countries, this sexual barrier is almost as rigid as'it was over half a century ago, in India, Although.in most homes, one lavatory serves both boys and girls, mother and father, and, when there are two or more lavatories, at home, either sex can use them all, - at school the law is that of the Meds and Persians that changeth never, A sign on the door proclaims that none of the wrong sex may trespass within. Let us just run through, lightly, a first day at ing there. Usually taken by a parent: usally the mother. The child is seldom given to understand, in advance, the parent will be permission of the Publisher. Lower Salaries are in the Municipal offices, Whore 7 é ; the Schoolboard, Manpower, Human Resources etc. Dear Sir, With the present furor about jobs, equality, wiemployment and the like, have your ‘readers ever thought that were the ‘fat cats’ salaries cul back a little, then other workers would be more content There would be more jobs and less disparity In wages. ‘Indeed this country at the moment is one of the most glaring examples in the world of a bureaucratic tree that is very ‘top heavy’, This is evidenced at all levels, federally, provin- | ¢lally and locally. Now, how about it some of you local sleek fat cats, how about taking some con- siderable cuts in salary to make others happier and our society more equal. Examples where this could happen in our own fair town But, it remains to be seen whether or not the higher echelons of our local society are willing to do this. Biblically, I suppose in the cases of some the adage of gain the whole world and lose your own soul could apply. For these people must and should remember that "as their days so is their strength,” and that their times are not their own, much as, they may like ta think, bu} are in the hands of a Supreé: ¢ Block 56 - Federal Govern- ment building. . $86 million. $1.5 million slated for 1979- 80. Designed for Arthur Erickson. Mail processing plant in Langley Alteralions to Victokia federal building. Alterations to Block 15, Vancouver (Post Office block). $700,000 slated for 1979-80 Abbotsford Government of Canada building. $390,000 Whitehorse mail processing plant, $440,000 Burns Lake Government of Canada building. $190,000 Total B.C. cuts $3.7 million. National Capital region $10 million. Province of Quebec ‘$16 million. Projects going ahead New border facilities at! Surrey (Pacific Highway). Beaver Creek. Douglas Crossing. Surrey Data Taxation Centre Victoria mail processing plant Campbell River processing plant. mail If tracks on your overhead garage daors groan and slick, cond them with petroleum jelly, leaving him alone, once the destination is ‘reached. Then, that awful moment of discovery, when the child is given a kiss and a pat and a goodbye - and becomes aware, with cold pangs of fear, that he is absolutely alone, ‘Yo sum up: The First Day of School, for many, is still-an exercise in surviva), Its-importance must be recognized by parents and primary grade teachers, alike, if the casualty rate is to be reduced, Tragically the damage that is done is 50 seldom visible to the world, that most of it goes unnoticed, a - would seem only sensible if those goin: school for the first time have been intr ced to the school and the teacher, in advance of the “big day” by their parents. Also, if they could -be made aware of the route from school to home, and could meet one or two other beginners, beforehand, whou would be sharing the first day experience with them. And, also of importance if somehow they could be versed in the rights of a child, so that any infringement of those rights by adults or others would not go unreported by ~ them.