‘Kids’ Series Draws Array of Views

I was amazed at the study and work that went into your article on whether the kids have enough to do. What amazed me was the basic premise that it is the government’s duty, somehow, to be the entertainment committee for kids.

I was raised in simpler times. We kids were the entertainment committee; not the government, at any level, not even our moms and certainly not our dads.

Guess what? We didn’t rob banks, shoot up the neighborhood and blame society. We did, however, do some stupid things, because we were kids, but they were generally benign.

When you validate the basic premise of responsibility to kids by being serious about the government’s responsibility for entertainment, you set them up for unrealized expectations and provide them an alibi for lack of individual responsibility.

It’s nice to have parks and other areas where kids can do “their thing,” but remember all the bells and whistles in these programs are paid for by the government taking money out of someone’s pocket to pay for it. That’s called taxes, folks.

RICHARD S. HAWLEY, Thousand Oaks

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Congratulations on your informative series, “Kids: Family Life in Ventura County.”

As director of the Ventura County Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, I was particularly interested in learning about how Venturans perceive alcohol and other drug problems. In your Sept. 10 article, I noted that when parents and children were asked about the “worst” thing about living in Ventura, 6% of kids responded “kids use drugs.” Parents, however, did not mention alcohol and other drugs among their top concerns.

The fact that parents overlooked the alcohol and drug problem when responding did not entirely surprise me. No parent wants to think that his or her child is susceptible to alcohol and other drug problems.

Your Oct. 8 installment revealed that most adolescents polled said that at least half of the students in their schools regularly drink alcohol and that one-third said that half of their schoolmates regularly use illegal drugs. If the perceptions of these students are correct, that could mean that as many as 50,000 students in Ventura County drink alcohol and use illegal drugs. Unfortunately, the response of the Ventura County students polled is consistent with national data which shows that substance abuse among young people is again on the rise.

This comes at a time when the funding available for prevention and treatment is decreasing. For that reason, a group of educators and health professionals--including the Ventura County Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, Rio School District, Ventura Unified School District and Value Behavioral Health--have been collaborating for the past two years to develop a private-public partnership to provide a sustainable source of funding for treatment and prevention programs.

From this collaboration, an opportunity for parents to directly fund alcohol and drug prevention and treatment services has been established. For an annual fee of only $10 a year per child, parents can buy a prevention benefit which includes access to a toll-free phone number for information on parenting, alcohol and drugs and behavior; a quarterly information update on these issues, information about community resources and--perhaps most importantly--prevention experts working with Ventura County school districts to design and implement prevention programs in the schools. For just $30 a year per child, parents can buy a comprehensive counseling and treatment benefit.

Parents have until Dec. 15 to enroll their children in this program. I encourage all parents to take the first step toward enrolling in the program by calling (800) 335-2392.

STEPHEN KAPLAN, Ventura

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I am responding to your article of Oct. 8 regarding teens and their morals and how they learn them. It seems we are all concerned that something be done for our young people so they can have a productive life. I am in agreement with that.

However, our teens have no feeling of personal responsibility or awareness of how destructive they can be. They skateboard and roller-blade on the sidewalks and into people. They hang on trees and break off branches--and much, much more. I am afraid to walk when teen-agers are out. I never know what they will do.

My main point is that if they would take responsibility for their actions, everyone would love to help them.

BELLA LEVEEN, Camarillo

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Your question in the Times Poll, “How would you rate the way your parents have taught you about right and wrong?” misses the point. More telling would have been, “How would you rate the way your parents consistently demonstrate values about what is right and wrong?”

The results of such a question would have gone a lot further in explaining the reported widespread use of alcohol and drugs, and the rampant anti-gay prejudice. Lectures about right and wrong can only go so far. Children and young adults act on what they see.

LOUISE C. HEWITT, Ventura

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Re: Teen-age Boredom, “Keeping Teens Busy Isn’t Child’s Play,” Oct. 1.

For whatever it is worth, I distinctly recall as a teen-ager in Aurora, Ill., circa 1940s, we all said precisely the same things--”boring, nothing to do,” or “it costs so much we can’t afford it.”

Having puzzled over this repeated chorus of “boring,” I’ve concluded that “boring” has always been, for teens, the best way to collectively and very indirectly denounce their experience of required compliance, passivity, and dependency, and their untested competence.

While enduring this time of much uncertainty, both real and imagined, with its mix of dread and anticipation at approaching emancipation, I recommend doing something (legal) while waiting for competence to flourish. The doing diminishes the oppression of passivity and strengthens self sufficiency. By that route, you are most likely to find life’s greatest freedom: The freedom to choose one’s focus.

ANNE W. MITCHELL, Ventura