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OPINIONS
Voice of the People
Year-round school is good for families
I think if the people who are opposed to year-round school would look at the schedule, they would quickly change their minds. According to studies, it's the right thing to do when it comes to academics, nutrition and other important factors concerning education. Plus, it prepares children for a more realistic schedule as far as work and life are concerned. And, the childcare cost argument is practically nonexistent. How could it NOT be cheaper? You'd be using it LESS, wouldn't you?
The child care providers can certainly adjust. Vacation and family time could then be scheduled far more easily. Most people just want to complain about something, and don't want to accept change.
I applaud the school board for thinking toward the future. If timing is everything, and change takes time, I think the time is coming.
Chad Raines
Huntington
Issues other than guns need attention
Should gun control be a governmental priority when the biggest threats to Americans are perfectly legal? U.S. carbon emissions, tobacco, alcohol, the drug war, U.S. military interventions, fast food, pharmaceuticals, corporate corruption, pollution and many other perfectly legal things that kill a lot more people than private firearms deserve much more attention.
The gun control debate is driven by people in media and in government. Of course we have a gun problem, and gun deaths would reduce considerably if we followed the path of every other advanced nation on the planet, all of which have gun violence rates a mere fraction of what we have in the U.S. But, if we cared about "harm reduction," we would realize that while school shootings are awful, they pale by comparison to the number of people suffering from the above-cited things we do not consider much of a threat, and are still legal.
The drug war is a perfect example: While we consider "drugs" to be the threat, we think the "drug war" is not. Which kills more? Drug consumption? Or, the violence driven by the fact that drug consumption and sales are illegal? Let's get our priorities straight.
Chris White
Barboursville
