GOOD COLUMN BY PAT CARLSON BUT BERNARD LORD WON'T LISTEN!!!!

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Daily Gleaner | Guest Commentaries
As published on page C8 on May 18, 2006

Root of homelessness lies in society's failures

Pat Carlson
CONSIDER THIS

When the news is bad, which is most of the time, why do we accept it as inevitable? Yet, when the news is good, we become skeptical of its validity?

Two presentations - one world into which we might not want to go and one that is there whether we want it to be or not. The choice is always ours.

The staff of Grace House and the Men's Shelter recently attended a presentation, at Addiction Services, on the new street drug that is in our community. The RCMP officer told us of a drug so damaging that some users have eaten the scabs of their sores in order to get what is stored from their own tissue, when a new fix is not readily available.

When the presentation was over, the silence that fell on the room was nothing short of deafening. A level of despair hit the room, as front line workers, of every expertise, felt their stomachs fall. We were shocked as we recognized that no level of preparation will be enough and no answers are available on how to stop this epidemic.

We were cautioned to deal very carefully with the individuals, to keep our hands visible and not to make any quick movements. We were warned that if treatment were attempted, at all, it would take six months of 24/7 supervision and counselling for up to two years to be effective. Treatment is not likely to succeed.

The drug is crystal-meth. Home-made, with over 1,500 recipes on the Internet, it is the drug dealer's dream. It is cheap, easy for drug dealers to make and sell and has no quality control. It is even being laced in marijuana to make you addicted.

At the end of the same week, I was lucky to be invited to attend a conference in Halifax on health and education in our schools. The doctors who presented came with a vision of hope and years of research on what has been proven in universities all over the world. The message was simple: students can reach their full potential. Nick-named "stress buster," the message clearly demonstrated success is possible when stress is reduced.

At this point we need to review some past facts. Most of the addicts who relay their stories to us admit their addiction started as early as age 10. Life has become so stressful that kids are already taking high blood pressure pills and anti-depressants by Grade 10 and 12. Obesity is through the roof as we try to stuff happiness into ourselves. It's all because we are unable to understand that the nature of the individual is not to be pushed from the outside, but be stimulated from the inside.

We also need to reflect on the causes of homelessness.

We ask ourselves: how many students are leaving school uneducated and not able to read? We ask: what will it take for everyone to realize that homelessness is the byproduct of every failure that we are experiencing? Is it not from our own failures that we are failing our youth?

Think about how many teachers you know who are leaving their jobs, prior to retirement, on stress leave?

Homelessness is created. It is not planned. One does not get out of bed and say, "when I grow up I want to be homeless."

Homelessness is the failure of homes, education systems and planning and advisory people who have forgotten what their inner voice told them many years ago. Success comes from within. Success comes from a brain that is open and rested and free from the drug-induced states that rob us of our abilities to fulfil our potential.

Scared of tomorrow? Instead of being scared, why not ask your school to investigate the outcomes of this conference? And, ask also how we can become part of the success of our children with this scientifically proven method.

The calibre of the presenters was quite astonishing: "Ashley Deans, PhD, is principal of Maharishi School, (K-12) in Fairfield, Iowa. His school graduates 10 times the national average of National Merit Scholar Finalists, has seen 95 per cent of graduates accepted at four-year colleges and has had grades 10-12 consistently score in the top one per cent of the nation on standardized tests of educational development. The school has no entrance exams and offers open enrolment, accepting students from a wide variety of backgrounds." His presentation left us with a feeling of hope and optimism.

From Montreal, Guy-Paul Gagne, MD FRCSC, is director of obstetrics and gynecology at LaSalle General Hospital. He is also assistant professor, in this same department, at McGill's faculty of medicine. He is an expert in the health benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique for children and adults.

The list of presentations went on - from youth who have ADHD and are now drug free and able to focus in school to a conference call with Sarina Grosswald, ED.D., an expert in cognitive learning. All have concluded that "quiet time" with a mechanical, scientific technique can change the learning and achievement potentials for all students.

As principal of a school in Washington, D.C., George Rutherford, PhD, tells of the success in one of the worst schools when he introduced this technique to teachers, students and parents.

In the Maritimes a new committee is being formed for the establishment of stress-free schools. It is not acceptable to attempt to fix what society has created by building more prisons. Yet our current prime minister is claiming that is the answer. Do we not have a responsibility to our children to investigate what this new committee has to say and has to offer?

Success should not be overlooked. More prisons will create only the illusion of safety. Children with a future will guarantee it. Information is available at www.maritimes.stressfreeschools.org or by calling Christopher Collrin at 506-471-5598.

Pat Carlson is an advocate for the homeless and executive director of the Fredericton shelters. She writes every second Thursday.