Newspaper Page Text
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♦ WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2007 '
Houston jpatly Journal
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Foy g. Evans
Vice President Editor Emeritus
Group Marketing
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Smoke blows in a
different direction
According to a release, a recent
University of Georgia study found
that some anti-smoking ads are sim
ply ineffective, while others actually make
youth more likely to light up.
Hye-Jin Paek, assistant professor at the
UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass
Communication, according to the release,
found that
anti-smoking
ads are most
effective when
they convince
youth that
their friends
are listening
to the ads.
Otherwise,
Paek said, the
ads appear to
stimulate the
rebellious and
curious nature
of youth, mak
ing them more
interested in
smoking.
Paek and co-author Albert Gunther
from the University of Wisconsin-
Madison examined data from surveys of
nearly 1,700 middle school students, and
their results appear in the August issue
of the journal Communication Research.
“Anti-smoking ads have the greatest impact
on smoking attitudes and behavior when
adolescents think that their peers are lis
tening to those messages,” Paek said. “And
that makes sense because people are more
likely to listen to what their close peers say
rather than what the media says.”
To us, that is and isn’t news. Anyone with
children will always tell you whatever the
parent wants the child to do they almost
always will do the opposite.
It should come as no surprise then that if
the media - the media being looked at as an
authority figure - run ads that say “don’t
smoke, the children will undoubtedly do
just that.
On the other hand, if their friends are say
ing: “Hey, this ad says not to smoke. Maybe
we should listen to it,” they are more likely
to go in that direction (remember this oldie
but goodie: “If your friend jumped off a
bridge ...”).
This information, Paek said - the study
being funded by the National Cancer
Institute - arms the ad/health industry
with ammunition to change “social norms”
versus attempting to convince them simply
to avoid tobacco.
Perhaps we as parents can use this infor
mation to adjust our strategies as well.
Letter to the Editor
Government is not bad
Why is it that so many folks in Middle Georgia say
that they are against Big Government and high taxes yet
expect Uncle Sam to keep RAFB here forever because of
all the civilian jobs? Yet so many residents support Mr.
Bush who wants to privatize one-half of the civil service,
or do away with the federal Estate Tax that benefits our
richest citizens and that will result in drastic cutbacks
in Georgia’s Peachcare, which is mostly funded by Uncle
Sam. Our federal government does an excellent job man
aging Social Security and Medicare that Mr. Bush wants
to privatize. Big government is not necessarily bad.
.Frank W. Gadbois, Warner Robins
HOW TO SUBMIT LETTERS
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or drop it off at 1210 Washington St. in Perry - between 8 am.
and 5 p.m, Monday through Friday.
Paek and co-authop
Albert Gunther from
the University of
Wisconsin-Madison
examined data from
surveys of nearly
1,700 middle school
students, and their
results appear in the
August issue of the
journal Communication
Research.
Boomerang effect of childrearing
I love taking my boys on adven
tures. Camping, fishing, exploring
the woods all great ways to experi
ence new and exciting things togeth
er. Adventurers are the people who
discover things, invent things, make
the world a better place for us all.
Adventurers conquer their fears and
sometimes the fears of others.
A few years ago when my oldest was
6, we bought a little one-wheel bicycle
that attaches at its front to the seat
post of my bike. It makes my mountain
bike look like it’s pulling a one-wheel
trailer with a seat and handle bars.
Zach could pedal but couldn’t brake
or steer, much to my satisfaction. He
loved riding that “chaser bike” all
around the neighborhood, and espe
cially down to the park.
One day I decided to take him rid
ing on the rocky, hilly, dirt trail on
the bluffs near our house. At first, he
was excited, but when the trail started
to get a little bumpy, he began to get
nervous. Then he started to cry. “Dad,
please stop!” he begged. I braked to a
halt for a minute - just long enough
to explain that we couldn’t go back;
that we had to go up and over this hill,
then we’d go down the other side into
the park. Occasionally on that first
trail ride, I could hear him asking me
to stop. I’d quickly shout back, “It’s
OK, buddy, just hold on, we’re almost
there.”
Zach was so thrilled when he finally
made it to the park. I think he wasn’t
only glad the danger was past, but he
was proud of himself for surviving. I
believe that’s part of my job descrip
tion as a dad. Not to scare my children
into submission, but to broaden their
horizons. If I can be there to help them
risk, then help them succeed, they’ll be
willing to face new challenges that may
one day change the world. And besides,
playing in the park is so much sweet
er after an adventure on the bluffs.
There are many things our chil
dren will learn from watching us.
And we can learn from them, too.
A friend named Bill told me about some
thing that happened when he left his job
after working with the same organiza-
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"Why listen to them? They haven’t
done anything for you since last election!"
He's just wild about Scooter, young Harry
O’Reilly called. “Scooter skated.”
“Hello, Don. Catchy, but old
news, wouldn’t you say?”
“Harry’s happening.”
“It’s early and I like the alliteration,
but you’ve already lost me.”
“Scooter skated. Harry’s happen
mg.
“OK, O’Reilly. I give. Uncle. What’s
on your mind?”
“Scooter and Harry.”
“I was thinking that, but thanks for
clearing things up. And who’s Harry?”
“Potter, you paper wad. Harry
Potter.”
“Right. Scooter and Harry. And the
connection is?”
“Oh. I guess there isn’t any. Should
there be?”
“Not necessarily, which makes it per
fect for your blog.”
“Hey, yeah. Good stuff. Thanks.”
“So. Did you call for ideas to add to
the noise in cyberspace or did you want
to talk about the president commuting
Lewis Libby’s prison sentence?”
“The Scooter skate, among other
things. That Potter kid plays well
doesn’t he?”
“Always a good story. Always a gold
mine. And this month we get book
seven and already have movie five.”
“I’ll be in line for the book. Seeing
the movie this weekend.”
“So, Don, what do you think about
Libby’s good fortune?” “Scooter skat
ed.”
“You said that. You mean skated as
in free ride or skated as in lucky?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
OPINION
tion for 33 years. It was a painful part
ing of ways with his company, but Bill
shared two very meaningful events on
the fringes of the experience that added
richness and purpose to the event.
First, Bill, the father of a high school
senior, had watched the closing
moments of a week-long baseball try
out in which his son would find out
whether he made the team or not.
As the coach wrapped up the ses
sion, all the guys turned and walked
away, some smiling, some dejected -
all the kids, that is, except Bill’s son.
“I watched Jason walk up to the coach
and hold out his hand,” Bill said. “He
shook hands with the coach and they
talked for another 10 or 15 seconds,
then Jason walked away. I was excited
he had made the team. But when he
got to the car, I asked him, ‘Did you
make it?’ He said, “No, I didn’t,’ I
asked him what he was doing when he
shook hands with the coach. He said,
‘I just thanked him for the opportu
nity of letting me try out and wished
him luck in the coming season.’ That
really hit me. I thought, ‘Man, what
maturity Jason just showed in a tough
situation.’”
Some time later, when Bill felt forced
to leave his job, he remembered Jason’s
baseball tryout. “I thought, ‘That’s how
I want to go out - shaking hands with
my boss, thanking him for the oppor
tunity to play on his team.’ And that’s
what I did. It was a tough decision to
step out on my own after being with one
organization for so long, but I felt like
it was clear that it was my time to go. I
wanted to go out with the same grace I
saw Jason demonstrate.” The impact?
A few weeks later Jason decided to try
out for a part in a musical production
his high school drama department was
“Yes, he got a free ride and yes he
was lucky. I saw it coming.”
“Wrote about it on your blog?”
“Not really, but Scooter skated
because of who he was. No biggie.
Washington being Washington.”
“Think Bush will pardon him?”
“Dunno. It’s a pretty stinky story
though, and we’ll never know the
truth. Nobody will man up and tell us
and nobody has enough veritaserum to
make anyone talk.”
“Veritaserum?”
“Harry Potter, I think first used it in
“Goblet of Fire,” but I’m not a chap
ter and verse guy. You maybe want to
check a Web site or ask a kid.”
“O’Reilly. That’s it!”
“That’s what?”
“What we need. A wizard in
Washington.”
“You mean besides the basketball
team?”
“Yes, I mean besides the basketball
team. We could establish Hogwarts
West, where mere Muggles depend
on the wizarding world to defeat the
dreaded universe of Voldemort and
other evils.”
“Expecto patronum, like that?”,
“Yes. And imagine having Albus
v 4
Gregg
Hunter
Columnist
Georgia Family Council
George
Ayoub
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
putting on. He auditioned for a sing
ing part, which was amazing in itself
because he had never sung publicly
before. When quiet, introverted Jason
landed one of the lead roles in the play,
his parents were amazed. “What made
you try out for the play - and to go
after a singing part?” they asked him.
His answer moved his dad to tears:
“When I saw dad step out of his job
to take on something new after being
in one place so long, I thought that
was a great example. I decided if he
could do it, I could take a risk and
do something I’ve always wanted to
do but never had the guts to try.”
You’ve heard it said that “what goes
around comes around.” The learning
current doesn’t just flow in one direc
tion where parent-child relationships
are concerned. It helps us to realize
that our kids are watching us. They are
paying attention to the way we react
to negative and positive things in our
lives. When someone cuts us off on the
highway or steals “our” parking spot
at the store. When a co-worker or boss
insults us or makes decisions we don’t
like. They learn from our behavior.
My son Zach recently suggested that
I was making too many derogatory
remarks about other drivers - their
capabilities and sometimes their intel
ligence. Get this, he said he was con
cerned about me influencing his eight
year-old brother with the way I talked
sometimes. Now, please understand,
there was no profanity or obscene
gestures involved. Simply statements
mpde that I probably would not say to
the other driver’s face. And Zach, see
ing this contradiction in something
I have tried to teach my kids, brought
the discrepancy to my attention.
That was about three months
ago. Yesterday I asked Zach if he’s
noticed a change in me. He said yes.
It’s no secret that our kids will learn a
lot from us, from overcoming fears and
apprehensions to the way we deal with
pain and uncertainty, and even the way
we respond to annoyances caused by
other drivers. And, if we listen closely,
we may be able to learn important life
lessons from them, too.
Dumbledore as a cabinet member.”
“Or being able to send an owl to J.K.
Rowling, begging her to write another
book, to right another wrong.”
“That’s right, Don. And there’s your
connection, to Scooter you know who
skated.”
“I don’t see it, Newsboy, but I can
play along.”
“You sounded a little like me there.
You don’t see the link?”
“Maybe. You think Harry would have
commuted Scooter’s sentence?”
“Not until he knew the truth and
told it to us even if he needed to spread
around some veritawhosit or whatever
you called it.”
“Veritaserum.”
“Right. The Potter kid has character.
He’s a straight shooter. D.C. might be
a tough place for him. He might rather
visit Azkaban.”
“So, Ink Blot. You know it’s all fic
tion.”
“Really? You mean Harry Potter or
Washington?”
“I mean this conversation is about
what’s real, Bunky. That our problems
are real. That evil exists. That there
aren’t any wizards or veritaserum in
Washington.”
“Really?”
“Come on.”
“What about people with character?
Any of those in Washington?”
“O’Reilly?”
“I might have to get back to you on
that.”
“After you read the new book?”
“Yeah and see the new movie.”
“Keep in touch, Don.”