Opinions

"It is not advisable, James, to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener."
-- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957

First, a short update;

I'm not quite sure where I want to take this blog. It started out as an environmental blog, but apparently it seems to want to be a place where I can rant about the failures of society. I don't think I really want to continue this trend. However, I think this will just be a place for thoughts I think need to be shared, with a mostly environmental focus.

So, I'm going to update you with a few things today, and then I'm going to write another piece, so you may get two posts for the price of one today. I know I've been quite irregular with updates, but exams have been hectic. I'm thinking once summer hits, I'll update at least once a week. My friends have also been bugging me to get my comic series , 'Frank and Honest', out to the public. I think you'll enjoy them, so once I have a decent collection of them started, they may appear here or on a new page!

Okay. So here's my minor rant for the day;

I went back to Dwyer for the afternoon today. I keep forgetting about the atmosphere there. Although I had to go get a Visitor's Pass (this particular secretary didn't know me), I felt at home once again. I had students and teachers smiling and saying hi to me like I had never left. I hadn't realize how widespread my last blog post had become, as teachers and students I had never even talked to expressed that they felt it was very powerful. Thank you to all who read it, and for spreading it around! It feels nice to have support, and to be supporting you.

I would like to address a second article, written in The Central, by a Mr. Ingino. First of all, wow. It's impressive that your passion for the subject is so strong that you must type in caps for half of your column. Second of all, I hope you realize that I may have been the only one to read it to the end, since it was so offensive and grammatically incorrect. I don't mean to be harsh, sir, but I'd like to let you know that making a point with clear and concise writing is a lot easier than literary screaming.

Mr. Ingio wrote a column for 'The Central', stating that the incidents at Dwyer could have been prevented, and that the principal was to blame. This opinion is valid, however when Mr. Ingino stated that "Catholic values need to be upheld" and, in the next breath, said that the principal was to blame and he should "F@#K THE POLICY BOOK [...] you should have followed your f@#$ing policy book and reported that retard of TK to the police." I could not help but laugh.

Honestly?

I go to church with my family to St. Mary of the People Parish, across the street from Dwyer. I took catechism for at least three years, and religion classes for at least 1o. I know Catholic values...and swearing and using the word "retard" (which, by the way, should not be used to refer to anyone) is most certainly not a Catholic way to deal with a situation. How can you expect your community educators to uphold values when you don't? How would you feel if a school official came into your son's class and called him a "retard", "social reject", and "a piece of shit" ? But this didn't happen, did it? Catholic values are in place at school, but most certainly not your newspaper.

[ I apologize for the profanity used here, but I am directly quoting Mr. Ingino's article. ]

I can't believe you can call a principal a "failure" in terms of values when you yourself cannot uphold them...and then even continue on to call him a "hypocrite". Mr. D'amico just arrived at Dwyer this past year. I don't know the man, but I can say that surely anyone who experiences the Dwyer atmosphere must know that the school is a place of love and respect, and that everyone works together. What I do know is that at my graduation ceremony, he passed me my diploma with pride, shook my hand and said with genuine warmth, "Congradulations." I was actually touched at that moment.

Any principal would have done what Mr. D'amico has done. It's not his job to be a bouncer or a cop, and it's not his job to entertain parents wacky ideas of safety -- the school board tells him the general outline of what needs to be done; namely, keep a safe place, run the school efficiently, and deal with incidents fairly. He can't possibly control the student inflow and outflow; the essential Catholic outlook on education is that no one gets turned away. That is a value that was upheld.

"We are Catholics and it should be a badge of pride. Everything has a price in life and we must teach our children value, otherwise we get TK."

Your religion should not be a badge of pride, sir. It's ok to be proud in what you believe. But I feel that it is not something to flash like a rented Jag convertible -- you didn't build it, you don't own it, and you know nothing about it's inner workings. And your religion is certainly nothing you should be using to justify your thoughts when those thoughts are so painfully contradicting of the very values you preach.

I'm sorry, I can't go any further into this article...I could quote every contradictory sentence, but I won't, because it's not worth it.

However, I will say this;

Oshawa, Durham, and possibly the world, would be a better place if people stopped expressing their opinions with too little information and too little time to think about what is being said. Please stop laying blame and spreading hate (I hope I myself am not being contradictory here, as I do tend to speak of these individuals) without first consulting all information and sides and your own true values. If we all use critical thinking and take time before we answer in this fast-paced world, we might be a more agreeable society with better answers to complex problems.

Everyone is open to your own interpretation and your opinion, and even free speech.

But for heaven's sakes, use it wisely!

--Cate