Letter to the Editor

More education necessary

Sunday, January 31, 2010

To the Editor:

There was a letter from a man about the deaths of our children on our roadways.

I am not a parent either. I, too, am saddened by these accidents and deaths and injuries.

However, it isn't the roads that are causing these deaths and injuries, but the drivers.

One problem that we have is that parents feel they absolutely must get a car for their 16-year-old. Nice ones, too. Fast ones, too. But no matter what, these kids are not ready for these vehicles. They want to drive fast and show off for their friends. We don't need to widen the roads or pave more of them. This only adds to their sense that they can drive like it is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Before and after school, West Central is unreal. They drive down that road like there isn't anyone else around. We have homes on Central with children who play in the yard when the weather is nice. We have already had one accident where they completely wiped out two mailboxes and a pole and hit a culvert as well.

I am terrified that next time it might be one of the children.

We have requested the sheriff post squad cars along Central and stop the speeding, but there just aren't enough officers to allow this.

The same with Kennedy's Crossing. They peel out of the parking lot at school and it is the pedal to the metal all the way down the road. This is what is causing the accidents and deaths and injuries.

Why do so many have to drive to school? Isn't that why we are paying to provide buses for the district? I realize that I am getting old, but when I went to high school, only the students that had after school jobs were allowed to drive to school. The rest of us took the bus.

We didn't think a thing about it. Everyone had to.

It was part of life's experiences for us. Didn't hurt any of us, and we didn't have as many hurt and killed in auto accidents, either. And cars were fast and fancy, even then.

The students need to be better educated in what the responsibility of having an auto is. This isn't the job of the school, either. It is the parents' responsibility. Again, you are not your child's BFF, but you are their parent and need to assert your authority.

Let's not blame the roads. That isn't the problem. Let's educate our young about responsibility and hope and pray that they will be smart enough to drive responsibility.

Jacqui Griffith,

Brazil