thing they do.-

‘Tesponsible.

. event”? -—

“Teenagers a and d drinking

in Terrace — part Il.

Teen ‘parties. No one can say

- these -words ‘imply . alcohol
' abuse. They-can be clean, pure,

innocent fun. But if they’re not

and five Skeena Junior Sec-

ondary students who talked to
the Terrace Review say that’s

- often the case — who’ s respon-
— sible? -
Often, it’s the parenits, Says ..

Terrace RCMP Cst. Ewen Har-

. vie. According to Harvie, a par-

ent who leaves a teen son or
daughter in charge of the home
assumes responsibilty for. every-
Under-aged
drinking, vandalism, drinking
and driving, injury or death...
under the law the parent is
And this leaves
everyone a lot to think about.
Particularly when many
teenagers say they spend most of
their week just looking for a
home with absentee parents so
they can “‘party’’.

But others assume respon-
sibility for teen parties, too,
Organizers of teen dances, ser-

' vice clubs who rent the building,

parents who host the ‘‘weekend
they’re all responsi-

“ble, and under the law can be
fined or sent to jail.

This is a fact of parenting that
can’t be ignored. It doesn’t mat-
ter whether incidents of teen
drinking are isolated affairs or

regular events — parents have to

assume responsibility. But par-
ents are often at a disadvantage.

Knowing exactly ‘what . their :
teenagers are planning or doing:

is often an impossible task, and
the'teenager has the upper hand.
As one parent expressed it
during a recent interview, ‘‘Kids
have a solidarity that parents
haven’t.”” And teens agree.
“Kids: have .a network,’’ says

one 14-year old. ‘‘Say my par-

ents are looking for me down-
town. In about 30 seconds there
would be kids telling me... but

they wouldn't. talk to my Par-

ents,”’
Or, there’s the “sleep over’’.
What’s really happening? ‘‘If I

want to go to a party I can tell .

parents I’m spending the night
somewhere,’”’ says another teen.
“‘And I can get a kid to answer
the phone and say, ’Oh yes, I’m

her mother, your daughter’ Ss

Northern student loan
_ program: still in doubt |

TERRACE — Skeena MLA
Dave Parker discussed several
items related to the recently
released 1989-90 provincial
budget with about two dozen
voters during a ‘‘Town Hall
Meeting’”’ at the Elks’ Hall last
weekend — a 13 percent increase
in education, an 11: percent in-
crease in forestry programs, a
small *‘but substantial’’ increase
in health care. But an item that’s
not included in the budget
caught most everyone’ s atten-
tion.

Parker said we could soon
expect to hear about a new —
financial assistance program for

northern students that would
forgive the total student loan of
those graduates who go into the
teaching profession and work in
the north for 10 years. °

It appears, however, that this

- program is only under consider-

ation at the present time, and it

‘gould be as long as a year before

northerners hear anything
further about it.

But even under the present
system there is help for rural or
northern students that the gov-
ernment has failed to promote.
In very general terms, the gov-
ernment will “‘forgive’’ all but
$12,000 of a. student loan to
students graduating from uni-
versity, Details on this program
are available from school coun-
sellors or-college financial assis-
tance officers.

Under the new program that

Parker was describing, however,

even the remaining $12,000
would be forgiven if the grad-
uate was going into the teach-
ing profession in a rural com-

munity. But Ministry of Ad- |

vanced Education spokesperson

-Michelle Poirier says this is an-

idea from the Sullivan report
and at the present time is only
being considered by the student
services branch of the ministry.

But according to Poirier, a
similar program .is. already in
place in Sweden — and it works.

She says the. proposal for a

Rural Teacher Education Pro-
gram is based on a predicted
shortage of teachers by 1992.
Poirier ‘says she’s ‘very op-
timistic’? that the program will

eventually be implemented.,

THE SIGN OF A
GOOD BUSINESS
NEIGHBOR . . .

ACLU BUSINESS MELA ie ce

THE SIGN OF
A MERCHANT
WHO CARES.
ABOUT PEOPLE ...

This emblem identifies
the. civic-minded
businessmen who sponsor

“Weta gn.

in the community.

Terry

638-8178
Vi | 35-5672
Alma 636-1204

spending | the nigh ”,

‘But what if the parent asks to
talk to their child,. or says
they’re going to drop over with
_ some forgotten but necessary
_ item? ‘You can’t do that,”’ says
one parent, ‘‘The more you start
playing detective, the more you
start obviously not trusting, the
worse it gets.”

This isn’t to say we shouldn’t

_ trust our kids, Some may.be a
little wild at times. But after all,
‘ they’re human — just like their
parents. And some-parents say
-kids have to assume some of the
responsibility for their actions

‘themselves. They’re the only
ones who really know what’s

happening. They’re the ones |

who can take some preventative
action if things. are going wrong.
But the law" places much of

the responsibilty on the

adult, and if they are to assume
total responsibilty 24-hours a-
. day what can they do? Trust,

freedom and no guilt trips, say
teenagers. Knowing exactly
what's going on, say parents.
And these differing views can
place a great deal of stress on the
family unit.

As one 15-year: old puts it,
“Last. year I wasn’t allowed to
go to any-unchaperoned parties
so I had to pull off all these little
devious things... I had to pull

off all these little scams in order -

to do it.”” And during the inter-
view, this comment forced both
parents and teens ‘to face the
facts and draw a solitary conclu-

sion. There’s only one real an- —

swer: communication.
_ Next week, the conclusion of

is week? ~

this series on the teen. party
scene will ask teens to put :them-
selves in the place of parentsand
come up with solutions of their
own. They, after all, know
what’s happening, know how
teens feel, and have an idea how
it can be dealt with. -

To really understand the seri-

cousness of family stress .and

its ultimate end — the break-
down of the family unit — is the
first step in preventing that ulti-
mate end. And this.is the goal of
the coming Skeena Theatre Arts
production, to demonstrate how
alcohol abuse can contribute to
the breakdown of the family
unit or the loss of friends. This
production is attracting wide-
spread attention and everyone
can gain from attending one of

the performances scheduled for .

later this month.

Government agent Randy Trombley and employee V Wilma Champlin are just a few of the
‘workers sorting out equipment and boxes of files following the move to their new quarters
~ at 101-3220 Eby St. Services at the new “one stop” location include government offices

moved in from several locations. -

=

SCHOOL DISTRICT sane

(TERRACE)
ANNOUNCES |

‘I Kiti K'Shan Primary School, 4730 Graham Avenue.

Students entering Immersion Grade One need NOT have had a background in
French. This class is open to any students entering Grade One. Because of
space limitations we request that you register early in the day.

Registration of ENGLISH KINDERGARTEN students living in Terrace and Thorn-
hill will be on TUESDAY, APRIL 18.

All Kindergarten children registering MUST be five years old by December 31,
1989, Birth certificates and Immunization records are required.

All Kindergarten children living west of Munroe Street in Terrace should
régister at Parkside School, 3824 Eby Street.

All other Kindergarten children should register at the primary school nearest

their. home.

The times for Kindergarten Registration are:

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION |
DATES FOR 1989

Registration of FRENCH IMMERSION KINDERGARTEN and IMMERSION
GRADE ONE students in the Terrace Area will be on MONDAY, APRIL 17 at

:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

ee ee