Re: Is it time to bring back reform school?I had a brief flashback to my youth that was rekindled after reading recent opinion pieces by Dave Makichuk. His thoughts on revisiting the concept of reform school for our habitual youth, as well as his perceived state of the school system invoked some thought. In the early eighties I was briefly detained in a west end Edmonton Police Service holding cell. Thankfully, the charges were not life-altering. Like the majority of our youth, I had no idea at that early age what it is like in the prison system, except that I knew there was no going back. A school field trip to a local maximum prison in Grade 8 is a bit drastic for many of my friends. Our youth would witness firsthand the daily routine of inmates and insight from prisoners. There are solutions, but unfortunately we do not have the political stomach to enact meaningful changes in the system. Incarceration is a union business that employs many. There is little incentive to rehabilitate. I also agree wholeheartedly with many of the comments in a recent letter submission by a Mr. Dorosh that the problem is also rooted in our schools. My wife is a teacher and she claims that many teachers — although not all — have forgotten that our youth are the priority is. There is a stench of arrogance, entitlement and narcissism. Teachers feel they are largely hard done by and unappreciated. She says that administration doctors report cards before the parents see them, just to avoid controversy. Comments from admin of, "Oh, you can't say, or tell them that," come all too often.The parents are largely blinded until it is too late that there are any issues with their child. Also, many parents do not want to accept the truth. The ATA union is not a friend of the taxpayers, and protects the weakest. I asked her if she could change one thing, what would it be? Early intervention. Test all of our youth before they enter the system. This would detect most issues early enough to direct the child into the the right program. We need to try something different.Alan PughEdmonton, ALTA
Re: Is it time to bring back reform school?I had a brief flashback to my youth that was rekindled after reading recent opinion pieces by Dave Makichuk. His thoughts on revisiting the concept of reform school for our habitual youth, as well as his perceived state of the school system invoked some thought. In the early eighties I was briefly detained in a west end Edmonton Police Service holding cell. Thankfully, the charges were not life-altering. Like the majority of our youth, I had no idea at that early age what it is like in the prison system, except that I knew there was no going back. A school field trip to a local maximum prison in Grade 8 is a bit drastic for many of my friends. Our youth would witness firsthand the daily routine of inmates and insight from prisoners. There are solutions, but unfortunately we do not have the political stomach to enact meaningful changes in the system. Incarceration is a union business that employs many. There is little incentive to rehabilitate. I also agree wholeheartedly with many of the comments in a recent letter submission by a Mr. Dorosh that the problem is also rooted in our schools. My wife is a teacher and she claims that many teachers — although not all — have forgotten that our youth are the priority is. There is a stench of arrogance, entitlement and narcissism. Teachers feel they are largely hard done by and unappreciated. She says that administration doctors report cards before the parents see them, just to avoid controversy. Comments from admin of, "Oh, you can't say, or tell them that," come all too often.The parents are largely blinded until it is too late that there are any issues with their child. Also, many parents do not want to accept the truth. The ATA union is not a friend of the taxpayers, and protects the weakest. I asked her if she could change one thing, what would it be? Early intervention. Test all of our youth before they enter the system. This would detect most issues early enough to direct the child into the the right program. We need to try something different.Alan PughEdmonton, ALTA
