LETTERS: ON GUIDING CHILDREN

To the editor:

There is much in the news about the increase of crime. Most of the items emphasize getting tough with criminals and building more prisons and hiring more police. Deterring crime is one approach, but with the rate of increase in crime we should also try to determine the reason for the increasing rate. Children don't get as much guidance from parents now as in previous generations. This should be considered seriously.

Most children grow up in smaller families where they aren't exposed to as much child rearing of their siblings. In many families with both parents working at jobs outside the home the children aren't well acquainted with the training previous generations experienced. Many young couples get their experience with child care in a crash course when their first child is born.

I was the oldest of five children. My first experience with childbirth was when our twins were born. It was a real crash course for me beginning that day. I still had much to learn. Observing the developing child care of the next two generations highlighted child care and nurturing for me. This has caused me to conclude that child care should be taught in school, being as important as reading, writing and arithmetic.

The people in charge of the school curriculum will say they have more courses required now by federal and state funding sources than they can accommodate. This is true, but a system of priorities should be set up in the local school system that has precedence over state and federal requirements. The local school district should be in control.

Some of our local school systems have done an excellent job, but with the growth in enrollment and in the use of recent knowledge, we need to make changes. Giving our children the knowledge they need to combat crime and skill in nurturing the next generation along with the other skills they need to develop is important.

Our whole education system will need all of the support we can give it, and it needs our help in protecting it from state and national interference. One system required of all schools in the nation or state isn't the way to go.

CARL L. PENZEL

Jackson