I was shocked to read in a letter from "Students of YSHS AP English" to the Editor of the YS News, today, that some villagers have "judged and attacked" the students who proposed the creation of a dog park. While we adults in YS are sometimes rude to each other during political arguments, we almost uniformly dote on our teens. I read on to find examples of the misbehavior that would support this assertion. I was relieved to find that there were none; but a bit disappointed. AP English students should know better.Just a couple columns to the left, the newspaper's editor wrote, "...I've seen those who oppose the park treating the young people with respect." If she had reason to believe that the unsubstantiated accusations were false, perhaps she should not have published the letter.
Personally, I think the high school seniors who proposed this project had it right in the first place. The dog park should be out by Ellis Pond. It got screwed up when the adults, however respectfully, got involved!
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One of the most important lessons I think a student can learn is how to deal with the reactions of others when you put yourself out there.
We can't censor people even if we don't like their opinions or they come across as rude in expressing them. Learning how to deal with rude people is a valuable skill and hopefully these students will be guided in how to not let it hurt them, how to put it in it's place, and how to respond or not respond.
I agree with the students. Young people aren't valued here. If we dote on them so much why are they abandoning the town in droves? Name one young person asked to join the Antioch renewal committee. The Antioch College events, it's like an AARP convention. If you were 19 years old, would you go to a new college organized by your grandparents? We can't have any new businesses because of the noise and increased traffic, no high wage earners paying income taxes because they have noisy children and lively dogs and certainly no increased property taxes because many seniors stay in their large homes and have limited incomes. The only bright spot is, crushing a young person's dreams can be positive because it makes them stronger. They will probably make a positive impact where ever they flee to after graduation.
Young people move out of this town, because young people always move out of small towns. It's the whole bright lights - big city thing. The amazing thing about YS is that they often move back to raise their children here. I guess they couldn't have thought it was that bad when they were kids after all.
"The only bright spot is, crushing a young person's dreams can be positive because it makes them stronger. "
I wasn't aware their dream had been crushed?? The idea hasn't been squashed has it? Aren't they trying to work out the details of where and how?
"Young people move out of this town, because young people always move out of small towns."
Yes we moved in 79 and then came back 8 years ago :)
Part of the reason students leave town is to further their education and exposure to life beyond this lovely little town. Some of the reasons they don't return are lack of jobs in town and in the immediate area, and it costs a lot (taxes, housing expenses) to live here and of course they simply find other places that match their or their significant others' needs.
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