My goodness Captain, you ask some hard questions! I think some of the
responsibility could fall into the family's lap. Are people helping their
kids with their homework? Are we checking to see if there is anything we can
do to help? Are we praising thier accomplishments, and encouraging them,
instead of critizing. Do we still check to see who their friends are? These
were some of the things my parents did. As with most parents they made
mistakes, as did I, but they did their best. And I did my best to make
amends to them when I drifted. I think, I know I could have done better in
school, I'm not sure if my study habits would change today. (one of the
reasons I'm alittle reluctant to go back to college) But the values I
learned young seem to be the ones that stick. And I feel the worst when I
fall short of keeping them. That doesn't mean that the new values I'm
learning aren't just as important, it just seems like it takes longer for me
to incorperate them in my daily life. But, just like everything else, it
takes alot of practise to get things right. Maybe we do need to do more to
create civic pride, do have something that people can say, "I'm involved
with this". For me everytime I check out and explore something new I always
learn something. And whenever I reach out and help someone, I fell good. It
was great to see the students of General Brown help out in the community
with the Thanksgiving dinner for the seniors (I know there was another
school that helped out too, I forgot who, if someone else remembers, please
jump in and add their thanks to the list). If we want our kids to be less
self-centered, we have to show them the example. If they don't follow, it
won't be from lack of exposure.

This is a transient world nowadays. The kids that grow up and get educated
here might go away. If we give the best education we can to the kids, then
when they say - I was educated in the North Country, they can say it with
pride, not as an excuse. It's not easy. But if one person gets an idea, from
something as simple as a question on a discussion page, to go out and do
something for the community, for education, for the youth of the community,
then that's a start. And a good thing.