4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, September 17, 1986 Lotter Thanks To the editor Riverboat Days was once again a great suc- cess! The Riverboat Days Society would ‘like to take this opportunity to thank all those in- volved who contributed to the festivities. We would like to thank the service clubs and organizations, Skeena Broadcasters for their publicity, Chamber of Commerce, especially Bobbi Phillips and the summer students for their information centre, the R.C.M.P., City Council for the marvel- lous fireworks display and the merchants and hotels for their continu- ing support. Thank you also to the staff of the Terrace Review for their media coverage. We would like to ex- tend a “‘Special’’ thanks to the Terrace Public whose enthusiastic sup- port contributes to big- ger and better celebra- tions each year. The Executive -of the Riverboat Days Society Opposition continues Despite Terrace city council’s official stance In favor of fluoridation, members of the community continue thelr campaign of opposition to treatment of municipal drinking water with the chemical. Len Greenall, a representative of the Society for the Promotion of Environmental Conserva- tion (SPEC) was recently In the northwest to speak out against universal flouridation. Greenall praised Kitimat council for putting the principle to popular vote, and he urged Terrace council to reconsider the referendum Issue here. Grethe Brorup, proprietor of a Terrace health food Store and a leading antl-flourldation proponent in the com- munity, has vowed to continue lobby efforts against the addition of flourldes to municipal water. - Commentary The write stuff Right-to-Life. Let's worry about the unborn, let’s worry about the aged - let’s forget about the teenagers. What? Since when have teenagers become an endangerd group within society? Statistics show that suicide among teens has gone up more than 200 percent in the last 30 years. Five times more girls than boys attempt suicide, while five times more boys actually kill themselves. About 5,500 teens find death as a solution to their problems every year; while 400 attempts are made each day. Some symptoms: expressions of worthlessness; an * Letters to the aditor will be considered for publication only when signed. Please include your phone number. The editor reserves the right to condense and edit letters. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Terrace Review, Terrace Review Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published each Wednesday by Close-Up Business Services Ltd. Publisher: Mark Twyford Editor; Maureen Barbour Staff Reporter: Michael Kelly Advertising: 635-4339 or 635-7860 Production: Kim Kimble Olfice: Carrie Olson Accounting: Marj Twyford Second-class mail registration No. 6896. Reproduction of this paper or any por- tlon thereof is prohibited without per- mission of the publisher. 4535 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C. VBG 1M7 Phone: 635-4339 ae Vesta Douglas declared ‘‘freeman’”’ Vesta Douglas, a long- time resident of Terrace, has participated in many community activities and has been an overall model citizen. Terrace Council recently decided that Douglas would be given the honorary title of ‘‘Terrace Freeman’’. The title of ‘‘Terrace Freeman’ includes free use of all community facilities such as the arena and library, and the bestowal of an honorary ‘‘Key to the City”. Vesta Douglas is a retired school teacher who will join Terrace’s only other Freeman Emil Haugland, who passed away last year, in the city records as a ‘Terrace Freeman’, The date and time of the official ceremony are unavailable at this time. Editor's Quote Book Do not take life too seri- ously. You will never get out ofitative, Elbert Hubbard I-don’t-care attitude; expression of loneliness; lack of energy; alcohol or drug abuse; antisocial behavior; changes in eating and sleeping habits; school prob- lems; giving away possessions; prolonged depression. One of the prime causes of suicide today seems to be the lack of a feeling of belonging or bonding. Suicide data indicate that the bonding of the baby with a loving mother is the single most important key to feeling good about oneself and life. Other con- tributing factors include the loss of culture and com- munity, alcohol and other drug abuse, disintegration of the family through divorce, negative feelings over school marks, loss of an intimate friend and incest. Someone once tried to tell me that teens commit suicide because they want attention. This is simplistic to say the least since there is no self-satisfaction in the grave. One suicide note reads: ‘‘Dear world - J don’t want to get my hair cut. I don’t want to tend kids. I don’t want to see Tina at school Monday. I don’t want to do my Biology assigment or English or History or anything. I don’t want to be sad or lonely or de- pressed anymore. I don’t want to eat, drink, talk, breathe, sleep, move, feel or live anymore. Mom and Dad, it’s not your fault, I’m not free. I feel ill. I’m sad and I’m lonely. In fact the shortened version comes from one kid who says: “I’m crying for help, but no one hears me! !!’’ If they want attention it’s before the fact, not after it. Depressed teens feel that if people really understood how badly they feel they would not be so glib with reassurances. Don’t urge the depressed child to ‘‘snap out of it’’ or ‘‘pull yourself together.” Don’t probe, examine or. ask questions about the cause of the depression. When someone is hurting, an analysis of why he hurts comes across as callous. Don’t interpret the cause of the depression - your analysis is probably off the wall anyway; and for every reason you give, he or she will come up with a hundred others to counter yours. Show the teen that you are aware that he seems sad, forlorn, hurt or dejected. One teen committed suicide because the rest of the family was successful at everything they did, but she felt she couldn’t keep up to them. She felt she was expected to be number one and she didn’t feel like number one. Parents should not try pushing their children into goals they might not be able to achieve or want to achieve.. Broken homes mean that Mom depends on the teen to help fill in the gap. Maybe it’s time some of these yuppie parents grew up themselves. Teens are struggling between childhood and adulthood and they don’t need to be pushed forward, just as they don't want to be held back. Teens have dependency continued om page 5 ' Hubert Beyer Terrace Review Victoria Correspondent | There’s never a shortage of bigots Tolerance, it sometimes seems, is skin-deep at best _and gives way to bigotry for the flimsiest of reasons. It takes an incident, such as the recent arrival of a ship-load of Tamils at our shores, to expose the prej- udice that lurks behind the smug and self- congratulatory pride Canadians profess to have in their ethnic mosaic. The sad truth is that even a society such as ours, built by people from every conceivable foreign land, feels threatened by newcomers, particularly if their skin is other than white. And if you think Canada’s history of racial tolerance is unblemished, think again. It wasn’t until after the Second World War that Chinese were allowed to swim in Victoria's Crystal Garden. Until then, a city bylaw forbid ‘“‘Orientals’’ to enter the indoor saltwater swimming pool, operated by the CPR. When Oak Bay developed the Uplands — to this day, the poshest area in Greater Victoria — the lots were sold with restrictive covenants that prohibited their sale to Orientals. Golf clubs and service organizations all over the" land refused to accept Jews as members. In fact, when I immigrated to Canada from my native Ger- many in late 1957, only 12 years after the holocaust had ended, I found more discrimination against Jews than against Germans. Every society, it seems, has a whipping boy, a target for collective scorn, a victim on which to unleash pent-up frustrations, someone to blame for every social and economic ill. The Tamils are the latest victims of the phenomenon. True, they made it easy for the bigots to crawl out of the woodwork, After all, they lied to the Canadian immigration authorities, claiming at first to have come directly from Sri Lanka, rather than via West Germany. The Tamils had barely settled into their temporary quarters when a chorus of nasty voices from coast to coast demanded to know why Canada was accepting liars and cheats who would only take jobs away from Canadians. They gave no consideration to the fact that these people were members of a persecuted minority back home, They ignored the obvious reason why the Tamils lied about their port of departure: they were afraid they would be sent back. The detractors also disregarded the fact that West Germany, their first destination, has no policy of integrating political refugees into their society, at least not on short order. It can take years for political refugees to get a work permit in West Germany. In the meantime, they are living in limbo. They are fed, clothed and housed, but they are denied the opportunity to be useful members of saciety, In many ways, such an existence parallels that of welfare recipients, They, too, don’t freeze and starve to death, but they are relegated to society’s attic.’ Who can blame the Tamils for seizing the oppor- tunity to come to Canada, a land which they believed welcomes the downtrodden and oppressed, a land that gives those who seek freedom and self- determination a chance to find both? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe that the bigots are in the majority. But they certainly are a very vocal and persistent minority. And history has many examples of nasty little minorities lording it over the silent majority. The outcome of such deviations from tolerance has always been tragic for some segments of society. Prime Minister Mulroney deserves full marks for continued on page 5 a