July 12, 2000
Portland
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Page A5
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Family
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■M H B M
Time for some child control
CONTRIBUTED STORY
1
Earlier this year, a six-year-old boy
pulled out a gun at school and killed
one o f his classmates at a school in
Mount Morris Township, Michigan.
Her name was Kayla Rolland. She
was cute, rosy-cheeked blond girl
with intelligent eyes. She came from
an apparently normal, loving family.
Her killer did not.
No, the little boy’s family could be
called a lot o f things, but normal
w asn’t one o f them. The family’s
collective police record reads like
something out o f an Iceberg Slim or
Donald Goines novel. His 28-year-
old father is in jail - again - and his
mother has demons that prevent her
from coping with the pressures o f
keeping a job, paying rent and raising
her three children. She left her two
boys with an uncle. T hat’s when a
sad story turned sordid. The uncle
was a drug dealer whose home was a
crack house.
A lot o f foolish people tried to turn
this story into a gun control issue and
babbled about trig g er locks for
h a n d g u n s. T h ey d o n ’t liv e in
neighborhoods like the one that
trapped the boy, and they know little
about drug dealers.
A drug dealer, to survive in the
“ p ro fe s s io n ,” m u st be to ta lly
ruthless. He must be willing and able
to kill at a second’s notice. There are
no trigger locks in a crack house. You
w on’t find tenderness, mercy or
morals, either. Frankly, the safety and
well being o f his nephew s was
probably the last thing on the uncle’s
mind.
A crack house is a vile place Words
cannot describe the filth and squalor.
Neighbors, out o f fear, did not call the
authorities to rescue these children.
They told reporters they saw the
children, sad-faced and forlorn,
sitting in front o f the house as
crackheads staggered in and out.
Teachers and parents also rushed
to tell their stories. The boy, they
said, was a problem child. He was
hostile and bullying and once stabbed
another classmate with a pencil. But
no one cared enough to take the time
to real ly look and ask what was wrong
with his life. When the boys came to
school unkempt and tired, no one
called child protective services. His
father knew that something was
wrong, but what could he do? He was
in jail. A time bomb was left ticking.
When it exploded, little Kayla died.
Kayla’s mother was one o f several
hundred thousand women who spent
M other’s Day in Washington, DC at
the so-called Million Mom March.
With all due respect and sympathy to
a grieving mother, I wish I could tell
her that it w asn’ t a lack o f unbending
gun control that killed her daughter -
it was lack o f child control. Raising
decent, moral children is hard and
sometimes thankless work, but Kayla
would be alive today if those boys
had at least one real parent.
Years ago. my father told me children
who were not reared by strong
parents who possessed a guiding
h an d and w a tc h fu l e y es w ere
dangerous to themselves and to the
entire neighborhood. That little boy
in Michigan and the two monsters of
Columbine High School in Colorado
are perfect examples.
There are those who hesitate to place
any blame at the feet o f the parents of
the Columbine killers Dylan Klebold
and Eric Harris, but not me. When I
was ten years old, someone gave me
a copy o f M andingo. It was an
extravagantly trashy novel, part
Southern Gothic and part sex romp. I
didn’t understand a lot o f the words,
but I knew it was something my parents
w ouldn’t approve of.
I read it in secret, and hid the offending
book in my toy chest. It took my
mother, who I swear would’ve made
a fine FBI agent, only two days to find
it. The parents o f Klebold and Harris
were unaware their sons had an
arsenal in their rooms. That is
parenting set on the autopilot, and it
leads to tragedies big and small.
There may, however, be a happy
ending for the boys in Michigan. The
authorities stepped in to try to save
this family. They don’t live in a crack
house anymore. The kids are living
with an aunt. They will attend a private
school at the state’s expense. Their
mother, in exchange for admitting her
parental ineptitude and taking a
parenting class, may regain custody
and get another chance to do right by
her kids. There is a tiny glimmer o f
hope for this family. It’s just such as
shame that Kayla Rolland had to die
to give it to them.
The line between a good kid and a
troubled one is not wide. Many times,
the only thing standing between a
child and disaster is Mom and Dad.
So don’t be afraid o f what your
sophisticated friends or even what
your child thinks. Guide your child.
Be there. Teach them with fairness,
kindness and firmness, and don’t
hesitate to exercise your right to
control their actions. Practice child
control. You may not get a thank you,
at least not until your child has
children o f his or her own, but you
may save a life.
Weekly unemployment paym ents to increase
CQNTRIBLTEDSTORY
Beginning July 1, the amount paid to Oregonians fi ling for
state unemployment insurance will increase slightly.
According to the Oregon Employment Department, the
state agency that administers the unemployment program,
the maximum weekly payment will rise to $376, while the
minimum amount will be $88.
Under Oregon law, each year the Employment Department
recalculates the maximum and minimum amounts paid
weekly to those filing for unemployment benefits. The
NE Portland residents join Kaiser Permanente’s
newly formed member advisory council
CQNTRIBLTEDSTORY
Two residents o f the Concordia
n e ig h b o rh o o d in n o rth e a st
P ortland have joined K aiser
P e rm a n e n te ’s new ly created
Member Advisory Council.
B e v e rly Jo h n so n , a re tire d
principal ofLlewellyn Elementary
School in southeast Portland, was
elected vice chair o f the council.
Also serving on the 19-member
council is Audrey Haynes, who
retired as principal o f southeast
Portland’s Franklin High School.
Johnson, Haynes and other council
m em b ers w ill ad v ise K aiser
Perm anente on policy, prom ote
effective use o f health care services,
and suggest service improvements.
Members o f the council were selected
from about 100 volunteers from
throughout the health plan's service
area.
They represent diverse ages, genders,
ethnic groups, work experience and
length o f coverage.
Michael Johnson, who chairs the
new council, says, “Though this
council, Kaiser Permanente and
its members can be partners, not
ju s t as a d o c to r-p a tie n t
relationship, but on a larger scale.”
Kaiser Permanente Northwest
President Barbe West says, “We
already survey members in a
variety ofways. I’m excited about
adding this different opportunity
- a way to listen directly and to
share ideas.”
Come visit us on the web
at www.portlandobserver.com
amounts are set as percentages o f the average weekly wage
earned by Oregonians.
The minimum unemployment figure is 15% o f average
weekly wage, and the maximum amount is 64%. Both dollar
amounts are rounded down to the nearest dollar as required
by law.
The new payment amounts are up slightly from those paid
over the past year. The maximum payment over the past 12
months has been $360, with a $84 minimum payment. The
change affects new unemployment insurance claims filed
on or after June 30. Those with existing unemployment
claims will continue to receive the same weekly amount.
Queenie’s retirement party
CQNTRIBLTEDSTORY
j
Fun, fabulous, classy, event o f the
m illennium w ere w ords used to
describe Queenie Samuel’s retirement
(graduation) celebration. After 30+
combined years with the City Bureau
o f Health and Multnomah County
Health Dept., Queenie has retired or
as her sons Allen W ilson ofFremont,
CA. And Nathaniel Wilson o f Las
Vegas, NV. said, “mama” has finally
graduated to a new phase in her life.
Both sons were present along with
150 other friends and family, at
McMennamins Kennedy School to
wish Queenie well.
The attendees were welcomed with
Ghanian drumming by Israel Annoh
o f the NW African American Ballet.
Followed by hors d ’oeuvres and
libations. The program co-hosts were
Wilma Smith BS-PNP and James E.
McDonald MS-FNP. Queenie’s work
h isto ry w as pro v id ed by B illi
Odegaard, retired DirectorofMCHD.
Lillian Shirley the sitting Director o f
MCHD presented Queenie with an
award plaque, o f appreciation from
the Health Dept. the highlight o f the
evening was the African American
tap group, age 9-16, called the
HotShotTapDancers.
They perform ed to a continued
standing ovation. (If you have never
seen them perform-take this writers
advice run, don’t walk, to their next
perform ance). The evening was
completed with dancing to the band
called “Smooth” with leader Rico
Lopez. They also gave a stellar
performance.
Queenie's plans for the future include
volunteer work with the SMART
reading program, work with the non­
profit organization Friends o f Public
Health, and she has just been elected
to the Oregon Nurse Assoc. Board o f
Directors.
Her immediate plans were treating her <
grandchildren and their parents to a
week at Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and then j
back to the Oregon coast for a stay at
Gearhart by the sea. Travel, which I
has always been a hobby for Queenie
(most recent out o f country travel in
Nov. 1999 was 2 weeks in Jerusalem i
visiting the HolyLand and one week
in Egypt at the Sphinx and Tombs o f ,
the Pharoahs) starts with an Eastern 1
Caribbean cruise to the US Virgin
Islands.
Queenie wishes to thank all who were
present at the celebration for making
it a success and apologize to those .«
unable to get tickets because o f the
capacity crowd. Thank you for the
memories-and may God Bless!!
i
f O r JLHL B o RI LA.\ d QB5LR\ LR
From teen idol Jonny Lang to Blues
legend Pinetop Perkins, a diverse cast
o f musical talent drew droves o f fans
to Tom McCall Waterfront Park in
Portland over this Fourth o f July
weekend, filling Oregon Food Bank’s
coffers and trucks with $300,000 in
cash donations and97,000 pounds o f
food.
Exceeding the Food Bank's goals o f
$250,000 and 80,000 pounds o f food,
donations at the Safeway Waterfront
Blues Festival will help gamer a total
o f 1.9 million pounds o f food, the
equivalent o f about 1.4 million meals
for hungry people in Oregon and
Clark County, Washington.
The Oregon Potters Association's
Empty Bowls Project contributed
proceeds o f more than $ 17,000 toward
the donation total The year’s pottery
sales topped a previous record of
$ 13,000 and brought the group's six-
is b rig h t, h e a lth y
a n d h e a d e d fo r
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13th annual Blues Festival breaks events
records for donations o f food and funds
L0MR1BI rtDSrORX
1
Just think: Your son
year donations close to $ 100,000.
Thanks to sponsorship o f the festival.
100 percent o f blues fans’ donations
will go to Oregon Food Bank. Oregon
Food Bank uses proceeds from the
fe stiv a l to c o lle c t la rg e -sc a le
donations o f food industry, and to ’
warehouse and distribute that food
throughout a network that links 700
hunger-relief agencies in Oregon and
Clark County. OFB also operates
education, food security and nutrition
and budgeting programs
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