Letters to the editor

Do kids in juvenile hall really want to change?

I and a few members from the group "My Journey Home" here in Carson and Reno would once a month go to the juvenile detention center here in Carson and talk with the kids about changing their lives.

For the most part it seemed like a good idea at the time, but as time went by I noticed that a lot of the kids in there were repeat offenders. It was almost as if they had never went home because there they were again locked up.

Some of the members of "My Journey Home," like myself, are ex-prison inmates. We would share with the kids stories about the harshness of prison life and what happens to some people when they go there. But that's where this whole story takes a shocking turn for the worst.

For some reason kids don't scare these days like the way they did when I was a kid. The mere thought of going to prison back then sent chills down our spines. But nowadays it's a cakewalk, other than losing your freedom it's almost like being at home with all the appliances you can have.

The kids at the center all but laughed at us about going to prison for any length of time. One of them asked if there was color television or was it only black and white you could buy. Then he asked what all you could buy at the prison store and was it very expensive.

It was at that point I decided that I'd had enough and I'd no longer attend more of the forums held. I mean what's the sense? It's like beating a dead horse if you ask me.

In my opinion a good majority of today's kids don't care if they end up in prison. By their standards it gives them status amongst their friends if they can say that they've "done time" at least once in their life. Kids believe in that old adage "seeing is believing." They don't want to hear stories about prison, the want to experience.

That young man who slashed the good samaritan in the park Ð his picture didn't look like he's too worried about being in trouble, but rather, "hey, look everyone, I'm on my way to prison!" His story is what prompted me to write this whole letter. If he thinks what he did is going to make him some big shot on the yard then he better think again. Only cowards do what he did and most of the guys in prison don't want a coward around.

The criminals are getting younger. The famous Dr. Spock once said, "There are no bad children, only bad habits."

If we, as adults, try to help these kids change those bad habits, then maybe they'll have a chance, but there is one thing we all have to keep in mind ... we as adults have to change our habits too, because those kids got their schooling from us.

DONALD PAETZ

Minden

When does no mean no?

As I sit here drinking my morning coffee and reading the Opinion section I cannot help but wonder when all of "this" will eventually end. By "this" I mean the egocentrism and arrogance and conceit that seem to be so prevalent among our elected officials here in Carson, in the Nevada state government and also in our federal system.

Prior to election, the promises seem to fly fast and furious. Whatever the voter runs up the flagpole the candidate places on his or her platform. Post election it is as if we have traveled to a different time and space. I have often heard that an elected official is only accountable to the Supreme Being.

After reading recent opinions in the paper, I am convinced that our leaders really cannot hear or choose not to hear the valid concerns of the people that got them to where they now are. "Supervisors ignored findings of Committee." After having once been voted down by a majority, it appears that the V&T proposal will once again appear on the November ballot. When does NO mean NO?

Arrogance, conceit, ego and cronyism will always outweigh logic and fact so why bother to present a well thought out rebuttal? It will fall upon deaf ears and blind eyes.

JOEL FLAMENBAUM

Carson City

Pastor's views don't represent Obama

Think back to our ancestors in the Eastern European ghettos. Their rabbis on occasion might have cried out in anguish about the injustices they suffered. They probably blamed conditions that prevailed, and governments in force there. Congregants did not walk out on them.

Yet some in our country do not think that the black community has anything to complain about. Should they think that, in general, it is THEIR fault that they have not "made it" here? Should they just shut up and be grateful anyway? Michael Bloomberg knows that this is not a Jewish attitude. Nor is it Christian.

To extrapolate that Obama is going to do the worst with sentiments expressed on occasion by his pastor is giving little credit to Obama's history, education and accomplishments. What all this DOES do is to give him the PERSPECTIVE that we need to make a giant leap forward.

WILLIAM BANDES

Zephyr Cove