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Page 4 — Wednesday, July 22, 2009, The Millen News Opinions, yours and ours The Chatter Box By Deborah Bennett I have some essays written by Linda Jenkins’ fifth grade class on "My Hometown.” Due to space limitations, I have been unable to get them in the newspaper. So, I am going to use some exceipts from each in this column. Tykeise Oliver wrote, “My town is historic, exciting and it’s in the South, so you’ll always have a little southern hospitality everywhere. Even though my town is the smallest in Georgia, it’s very special to me about 3,500 other people. Millen is unique in so many ways. I lovemy town...” Katlyn Muckerson said, “Millen lies on the Ogeechee River in Jenkins County, approximately 50 miles south of Augusta. Millen is sunny sometimes, but right now it is mostly cold. Millen has been my hometown for almost 11 years now. Millen has hot summers, stores and a little rain.” This one was written by “Taylor”. (I can’t read the last name.) “Millen, Georgia is not my home town, but it is my city... My mama said that the reason she likes Millen is because it is not too big, and it is now too small. Millen does not have a lot of stores, but they do have a lot of restaurants... We have a state park called Magnolia Springs. We have a good pool there, and an aquarium. Juwaun Smith wrote, “My hometown in Jenkins County. I lived here to 10 years. I like to live in Jenkins County because I stay in the country, have a big yard and I like going to school in Jenkins County. I go to Jenkins County Elementary School. I like going to school because I like eating breakfast, going to recess, going to RE. and talking to my friends.” Sydney Clark wrote, “Millen is a small town, but there’s a lot to know! Millen is located 50 miles south of Augusta and 30 miles north of Statesboro on Highway 25.. .We have lots of attractions in Millen. There is the Ogeechee River, Magnolia Springs State Park, Dukes Pond, Hanging Rocks Plantation and even Big Buckhead Church. We have high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. We have a variety of sports activities. Hope you enjoyed the writings of our young citizens as much as I did. They speak so favorably of our town that I think we adults could take some lessons from them. The poll question on our website last week was, "How do you feel about the amount of media coverage of Michael Jackson’s death?” Responses, as of Monday morning, were as follows: Too Much - 25; Not Enough - 2: Just Right - 15; and Sick of it - 40. To participate in this week’s poll, go to http:// www.themillennews.com. Happy birthday this week to: Milton Paul Godbee Jr., Velma S. Bragg, Steve Burke, John T. Herrington Jr. Tracey Herrington and Monica Weathersby. Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and Mrs. Steve Burke, Mr. and Mrs. Rudine Becton and Mr. and Mrs. Matt Brinson. Military Active Duty List: PV2 Jeremy Johnson, U.S. Army, 59 th Quarter-master Company, Ft. Car-son, Colorado; Ronnie Perryman, Charlie Troop, 108 th Calvary Division, 4 th Platoon, Afghanistan; Lance Cpl. Adam Lanier, U.S. Marines, 8 th & I Marine Barracks, Wash ington, D.C.; E-4 Sr. Airman Roy Davis, U.S. Air Force, RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines, Baharia, Iraq; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Camp Pendleton, CA; E5 Petty Officer 2 nd Class Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NS A Naples, Italy; Senior Airman Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Barksdale AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Ah' Mobility Squadron Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal Australian AFB, Rich mond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard HI, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Per sian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Ah Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and SPC Charles “C.J.” Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp Adder, Iraq. Chartered 1903 The Millen News is published weekly by Chalker Publishing Company, 601 E. 6th St., Waynesboro, Ga. The Millen News 856 East Cotton Ave. • Millen, Ga. 30442 Phone: (478) 982-5460 • FAX: (478) 982-1785 Periodical postage paid at Millen, Georgia. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Millen News P.O. Box 909 Millen, GA 30442 USPS No. 349-660 Walter Harrison Frank M. Edenfield Editor 1946-1985 Editor 1985-1998 Roy F. Chalker Jr Publisher Bonnie K. Taylor General Manager Deborah Bennett Editor Lavonna Drawdy Advertising Composition Subscription Rates (Includes tax): In Jenkins County $23.00 Elsewhere in Georgia $26.00 Outside of Georgia $29.50 “...These days every silver lining has a cloud attached to it!" Georgia Family Council— TORN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS By Randy Hicks President of Georgia Family Council For years, I have spoken and written, including here in this col umn, about the destructive and most often visible effects of di vorce on children. The increased likelihood of delinquency, drug abuse, unwed sexual activity and more have been well-documented and well-known for some time. These trends are important to ac knowledge and understand. But there is more to this story. Many children of divorce manage to avoid these severe conse quences, but they still experience emotional disruption that takes place below the surface and affects them for years. Elizabeth Marquardt is a respected researcher and scholar. She is also a child of divorce whose parents split up when she was three. Her life was not marked by delinquency, but she knew that her parent’s divorce had a profound impact on her. To learn more, Elizabeth undertook a groundbreaking three-year study into the emotional and spiritual lives of children whose par ents had divorced. She interviewed 71 adults and randomly sur veyed 1,500 more between the ages of 18 and 35. Both groups were divided evenly between those from divorced families and those from intact families. Her findings culminated into her book “Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce.” What she discovered was both fascinating and troubling. Children of divorce, she observes, must travel alone between each of their parent’s worlds and make sense of their sometimes dramatically different set of values, beliefs and ways of living. Meanwhile, children in intact homes do not bear this responsibil ity because their married parents are the ones who reconcile their personal differences. Children from divorced homes must inherit this role and make sense of it all, often at a young age. Elizabeth’s research found that children from divorced homes were: more likely to say they had to be different person with each parent; much more likely to say they were afraid of resembling one of their parents because it may make them an outsider in the other parent’s world; twice as likely to be asked to keep secrets, with many more feeling their own need to keep secrets because they have learned some information may spark anxiety or hurt in a parent. In effect they became a divided person—vacillating be tween two homes and not knowing how to be their whole, true self with anyone. Living in two worlds also forces children to become what Eliza beth refers to as “early moral forgers.” This means that they must answer fundamental questions about life such as “who am I” and “what is right and wrong” at a young age while navigating be tween two contrasting value systems. They are forced to navigate on their own through issues that children in married homes pre suppose because their parents have worked them out together. AYP from page 1 Recounting her own struggle with life after her parent’s divorce and the testimony of the dozens of others she interviewed makes Elizabeth’s findings compelling, but quite honestly heartbreaking too. Today tens of thousands of kids are silently straggling through life and into adulthood with the emotional baggage they must bear in the aftermath of their parent’s divorce. With that in mind, she is understandably angry at those in our culture who continue to mislead parents and children into thinking that there is such a thing as a “good divorce”—the idea that if parents get divorced, but do so harmoniously, and each remain involved in their child’s life, things will be fine. Elizabeth chal lenges this popular notion writing, “While a ‘good divorce’ is bet ter than a bad divorce, it is still not good. For no matter how ami cable divorced parents might be and how much they each love and care for the child, their willingness to do these things does abso lutely nothing to diminish the radical restructuring of the child’s universe.” Elizabeth is right and her research backs this up. At the same time let me clearly state that neither she nor I are condemning all divorce. Divorced parents endure a lot of pain and many find them selves in those circumstances against their wishes. And certainly there are some instances when divorce is necessary and important. The most obvious example is a case where a spouse and child are in physical danger. But keep in mind that one-third of divorces end a high-conflict marriage that involved physical abuse or extreme arguing. This means that a vast majority (two-thirds) of divorces end low-con flict marriages where the couple felt unfulfilled or unhappy, but faced no serious danger. These marriages are often salvageable. And Elizabeth’s research tells us loud and clear why these marriages are worth saving. Inci dentally, she points out that children do worse after low-conflict couples divorce because the divorce “marks their first exposure to a serious problem. One day, without much warning, their world just falls apart.” I recognize the pain and complexity of divorce. And that is why I believe more should be done to acknowledge that divorce is hard on kids, regardless of how the parents conduct themselves. Per haps by doing so, children of divorce will feel better understood and be less likely to have to grapple with the often unexplainable straggles they endure. Equally important is my hope that if more couples better under stand the impact that a divorce will have in the lives of their chil dren, maybe they will be less likely to consider getting one. Nobody’s home life or marriage is perfect, but as Elizabeth Marquardt points out so well, living and growing up in one world is certainly better than forging your way between two. includes the new Extended Learn ing time program. During the first 20 minutes of each day, all stu dents will engage in ‘extended learning’ activities designed to meet their specific needs. Activities will include remediation and acceleration meth ods in reading, writing, and math based on each student’s needs as indicated by a variety of assess ments. We are excited about the new school year. Our doors are always open to the community as it takes all of our collective efforts to help students succeed.” JCHS achieved AYP in Test Par ticipation and Academic Perfor mance. However, the school did not meet AYP criteria in the Sec ond Indicator area which was Graduation Rate. The school’s graduation rate was 68.3 percent. A rate of 75 percent was required to meet AYP criteria. The school did achieve AYP goals in six out of eight categories. Dr. Joey Kirkland, JCHS prin cipal called attention to the fact that, “JCHS continues to make academic gains.” “Our students are scoring well on the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT). When compared to the CSRA RES A and State, our students’ GHSGT scores are at or above these students. We met the AYP criteria in all sub jects and in every subgroup. How ever, we fell short on our gradua tion rate. Due to budget cuts last school year, the system was forced to shut down our Eagle Academy, which is an academic alternative school. This program would have helped more students to graduate on time. I am very pleased with the board’s recent decision to re instate the Eagle Academy for this coming school year. We will see our graduate rate rise again. There is still a chance for JCHS to make AYP this year as our students who failed the GHSGT will have an other opportunity to pass the test this summer,” Dr. Kirkland com mented. Schools that do not met AYP in the same subject for two or more consecutive years are placed in Needs Improvement status. JCHS is not in Needs Improvement sta tus. Statewide, more than 79 percent of Georgia’s schools made AYP, a 10 point increase over last year. The percentage of elementary schools jumped 13.4 points, and the percentage of middle schools meeting AYP criteriajumped 10.4 points. Just over 47 percent of the state’s high schools achieved AYP, a slight decrease from the previ ous year. FIRST SIX MONTHS I ONLY $9.99 A MONTH!! 1 I NO BANK ACCT. NEEDED | HB© | NO $$$ NEEDED TO START ^MONTHS FREE | | NO APPLICATION REFUSED | FREE DVR!! , 877-846-0882 , INSTALLED FREE 1 IN UP TO 4 ROOMS 1