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10 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, August 8, 1990 Most stolen bikes are taken on short joy-ride Do you know that every year in Durham, over 1,000 bi- cycles are stolen? Most are taken for a short time for a "joy-ride" then dis- carded. In fact, Regional Police re- cover some 800 of the stolen bikes. \ But of those 800, only about 200 return to the original own- er. The reason? Lack of identi- fication. Regional Police are hoping to change that. They have launched a publicity campaign to tell citizens that registering their bicycle with the depart- ment is an easy process. It can be done at any police station in a matter of minutes. The bike gets a registration sticker and the serial number is recorded on a computer. If the bike is stolen and re- covered, it's an easy step for po- lice to check the number on the sticker and locate the true own- er. So contact Regional Police, get your bike into the nearest station and have it registered. If it's stolen or lost, the chances of getting it back are greatly improved. Letters io the editor Religion in British School system From Page 7 an act of worship, and that children in state schools were to receive religious instruction bas- ed on a local authority syllabus as part of their curriculum. Needless to say, such syllabuses were total- ly 'Christian' in character, since adherents to other world faiths were hardly represented in England, and Humanists groups were poorly organized. The situa- tion I have described could basically be found in most schools into the seventies - there were dai- ly assemblies with prayers, hymns and readings from - or What could be worse than 25,000 music fans in your town? According to Newcastle council, | understand nothing is. The three day rockfest slated for Mosport Park last weekend was moved to Dragway Park in Cayuga, just southwest of Hamilton. Summer Sounds 90 featured 25 different rock groups including such big-name acts as Kim itchell, and Lee Aaron. The town of Newcastle wanted the concert promoter to put up an additional $200,000 for extra security measures by hiring more police- man, and firefighters for the three day event, as well as putting up money for potential disasters to residents' property. | don't really know whose side I'm on in this. | can sympathize with property owners who are afraid of what may happen to their property. But I can sympathize with promoters, and rock fans, who are looking for a good time. | personally would have love to spend a weekend at Mos- port with three straight days of music. The one reason | am not on the side of the Newcastle Township, and others who want a blockade put on these productions is because (though they do not say so in so many words), they believe the young generation to be uncon- trollable, and unconcerned about property and human life. What is so frightening about kids, rock and roll, and the outdoors? If it is because concerts these days are full of drugs, fights, deaths etc. | hate to be the one to point it out, but this generation did not start the onslaught of rock and roll mishaps. Drugs, alcohol, riots and crazed fans were not just born 15-25 years ago. Maybe if the situ- ation was watched closer all those years ago, le's fear of rock concerts wouldn't be like it is today. It started in the 1950's when entertainers oversold their concerts, and fans were forced to fight their way to the front of the crowd. I read in one newspaper an angry citizen stat- ing that security needs to be beefed up to con- trol the teenagers of today. Hah! What do you call Mick Jagger hiring Hel"s Angels to watch over his 1969 concert, and still an audience member was killed. | suppose the audience's well-being was just as unimportant back then as it is today. If Hell's Angels couldn't stop riots, an Back Talk additional hundred policeman aren't going to do it today. Of course this is my opinion, but if a policeman tells someone to "shut-up"®, usually they do until he moves on, but if a member of Hell's Angels told them not to breath, there is a better chance they'd listen. Concerts are not as threatening as they were. How about the 1979 Who performance which marked the end of festival seating. Eleven peo- ple were crushed, as general admission crowds fought to get closer to the stage. Everyone who has ever been to a concert as of late knows to- day there is not much freedom given to them to roam around. : My point is when these incidents happened, many the worst in concert history, this "uncon- tollable generation" was barely out of diapers. They had no bearing on what has become of the rock and roll era today, they are following in the Roisiops of others, and did not create the Boers that exist today. Let's try not to forget that. Contrary to popular belief people do not buy concert tickets to go and see how many fights they can start, and how much damage they can do. But, of course there is always the odd per- son who ends up doing that, but it is a small number, not enough to punish the entire genra- tion. | don't think there is a solution to the entire subject. Outdoor concerts are no worse than in- door ones in my opinion. The audience still has to come outdoors after a concert at the C.N.E., or Skydome. Damage will happen, it has long been a part of rock and roil concerts, that couldn't be sto in the 50's and will be im- possible to stop in the 90's. | know that some of the things that go on at concerts are ridiculous, and need to be stopped. | know, one concert | attended years ago turned into a riot at the Go stop. Crazed fans threw things, kicked and damaged a Go Train, which eventually refused to return pas- sengers home. A rock concert turned into a $60 cab far for a drive from Toronto to Pickering to reach our car. | was pretty mad to say the least, but what can one do? Absolutely nothing. But these inci- dents are no worse then the ones of days gone by. It isn't today's youth that should be blamed, but people of all ages for letting it continue to happen. based on - the Bible. In the 1970's education in England underwent a number of changes including raising the minimum leaving from 15 to 16 years. There was a great deal of pandering to present whims, such as preparation for a vocation, making sure that pupils were ade- quately fitted for the technological and scientific age etc. Such objectives, laudable as they are, put a great strain on fit- ting new syllabuses and subjects into an already full curriculum. But this was a decade when educationalists and the notion of schooldays being an 'education for life' were being dictated to by the world of commerce and sec- tional interests. The 'queen of sciences' (another name for Religious Education) was becoming Cinderella and marginalised in the School Curriculum, in an endeavour to find time for the new technology. Unfortunately, the response of the Religious Educa- tion heirarchy was to introduce courses in 'World Religions' as a way to try and retain customers in a changing market. Also to en- courage good relationships in a time of growing secularism, or to stimulate empathy among people of different faiths, 'Christian' assemblies tended to be phased out and replaced by material that could be anaemic and mean anything you wanted provided that it could not be construed as Christian. By the late eighties, the govern- ment had become alarmed at the rising moral decadence and crime in Britain, and realizing that a whole generation of youth was growing up without any basic understanding of its Christian heritage and culture and the ethical input of its historical religion. As part of its Educa- tional Reforms an Act of Parlia- ment was passed in 1988. This specifically states that Religious Education is to be a compulsory part of all children's education while in state controlled schools. Parents retain the right to withdraw their children from such lessons. All state schools, too, are to have times for collec- tive worship. The new Act of Parliament has been im- plemented since last September. Within the Act is a specific reference to Religious Education and Collective Worship being largely Christian in character, and it is hoped that the mish-mash in what passed for Religious Education in recent years, and its demise on the school curriculum, will only relate to the decline of the last twenty years. Yours sincerely, Tony Knight, (Ex Head of Religious Studies), Southampton, England. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Star encourages our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and viewpoints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter writers sign their name. Sorry, no anonymous letters will be printed. For Better or For Worse® by Lynn Johnston Editorial Comment (from page 6) are defending here, gun ownership must never be "carte blanche." There are some responsibilities that go along with these rights and we would suggest that regular medical and psychological assessments would not be out of line for the right to own weapons for legitimate reasons. Gun collectors and gun shops should be required to see to it that their weapons are "burglar-proof," and if gun owners or shop owners are careless in allowing weapons to be stolen, they should be hit with some heavy penalties, just to drive home the point that owning weapons is not an absolute right without corresponding reponsibility. And by all means, extensive police and security checks. should be carried out on anyone buying or owning a gun of any kind, including shot-guns and hunting rifles. Gun owners may shriek that these measures are an in- fringement on their ats, but really they are little more than. an incovenience. Besides, the alternative is the one demand- ed by councillor Brian Ashton and others of like mind. The use of guns for illegal purposes is a serious problem, one of the most serious facing society in this age of dis-order. But an outright ban on hand-guns is not the solution, though it never fails to get a headline for a politician. 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