Is anybody there?

To the editor: We are writing in response to, and in support of the recently published (Courier, Feb. 1, 2008) letter by Flora Mendoza. In 1993, we built a weekend home in one of the lake communities near Milford. As two mental health professionals in New York City, we looked forward to quiet weekends, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature. In our first month here, we were assaulted by quite another reality. Our property was vandalized, our car window broken, and our serene environment blemished by the sights and and sounds of realities quite different from what we had anticipated. At that time, we took a proactive stance and wrote letters to several community leaders, offering our services, free of charge, to speak with teens in the schools, to lead support groups, to address teachers, parents, and any other sources we could think of to help change the course of teen behavior. Our letters went to the principals of Delaware Valley Middle School and High School, the chairperson of the board of education, the mayor of Milford, the chief of police, the developer of our community, and several other inflluential public figures. We received absolutely no response from any of the people we wrote to. Not one single response. To this day, vandalism, loud ATV racing in the middle of the night, and other anti-social activities continue to abound in this area. It has long been known, and validated by studies over the years, that a teenagers’ day-to-day behavior is highly influenced by what is referred to as the “locus of control” over their lives. A youngster who has a vision of his or her future, a dream of what is ahead and what is possible, will rarely indulge in the immediately gratifying behavior that governs anti-social acts. They know there is a world ahead of them, they know that they can strive to achieve a dream or a vision. This concept of locus of control influences teen sexual behavior, teen pregnancy, vandalism, school drop-outs, any and all aspects of living without a hope of a future. To deprive teens of the dream, the goal of going to a 2 or 4 year college, of attaining a profession, whatever it may be, is to limit and eradicate any chance to assume control over his or her future. To offer no college guidance is to hobble a young life at a time when anything should be possible..any dream a chance to determine ones own future life. It is clearly a decision on the part of the educational community to take a passive role in this matter, to turn the other way, to hold youngsters back from knowing what experiences and possibilities lie beyond their day-to-day life. Perhaps there is still some hope for our community teens. It would be sad to fear that there is not, and that the adults in the field of education and community leadership are responsible for hobbling a youngster’s chances. Dr. Gerald and Ms. Isolde Blum New York, NY