Unfair negativity

To the editor: The ignorant negativity about our community and school district in recent letters and comments to the Courier greatly disturbs me, as a lifelong resident of Pike County and 13-year student at Delaware Valley. Letters in this newspaper insist there is no college guidance offered at DV. This is not true. “Will you go to college?” is not the question posed to DV students. The question posed to students is “what college are you going to?” That is the mentality of the teachers, the guidance department, the administration—and the student body. And the 90% of DV seniors seeking higher education each year is proof—a percent that is the third highest of 37 school districts in northeast Pennsylvania, according to the Scranton Times. Recently, letter writers wrote that “vandalism, loud ATV racing in the middle of the night, and other anti-social activities” are “abound in this area.” And while I won’t pretend those things don’t exist, what I have seen “abound” in this area are students raising thousands of dollars for cancer research. Teenagers running library reading programs for preschoolers. High schoolers heading groups to educate youngsters about sexual abuse and the dangers of drugs. DV students of all grade levels outperforming other schools in the state, country and world in academics, athletics and co-curriculars. I won’t turn a blind eye to the modestly growing juvenile crime rates, teenage pregnancies, drug use, and so forth in our rapidly expanding community. But hiding behind words in the local newspapers is not going to alleviate these problems. Neither is pointing blame solely at Delaware Valley. We could give them all the money in the world (which, by the way, we don’t: DV spends the least money per pupil of a dozen school districts in its Intermediate Unit) — and still we could never reasonably expect a school district to take the place of good parenting and a healthy community. Am I saying DV is perfect and claims none of the responsibility? Of course not. But it is by no standards a bad or even mediocre school district. We shouldn’t be telling the youth of this county they live in a terrible place. We should be telling them to take advantage of the incredible community they do have. If there is a problem here, it is apathy. Apathy first by the community to alleviate the problems that do exist, which perpetuates the even worse apathy among the youth to get involved in the community and seize the excellent opportunities DV and this community offer. Combating that apathy falls not only in the hands of the faculty and staff at DV (many, if not most, of whom are doing this—though there are some who sadly could care less). The responsibility of maintaining and improving our excellent community also falls in the hands of the parents—and every member—of this community. Many of your neighbors already build and maintain this exceptional community, and that responsibility is shared with every person who reads these words. Ryan Balton Milford/Syracuse, N.Y.