
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 6, 1995                   TAG: 9505100010
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RITALIN HAS BEEN ANSWER TO PRAYERS

AS A working mother of two children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and take Ritalin, I was offended by Shirley Surratt's April 27 letter to the editor, ``A pill won't solve all of a kid's problems.''

I've walked down that road where I've been blamed for my children's problems. Parents aren't to blame. It's not their fault.

ADHD is a disability, but has no outward or visible signs. It affects the way a child reacts, responds or learns. The children's attention span is very short. They have poor impulse control, don't think before they act, and have trouble sitting still or being still.

One way to help ADHD children is through medications such as Ritalin. My children take it, and it's an answer to prayer at our house. But medication needs to be used in conjunction with behavior modification, a predictable environment, and anticipation of problem situations as well as many other things that can aid in managing these children.

Parents have it hard enough now with all the negative influence society offers our children. However, our job would be made somewhat easier if people, such as Surratt, would take the time to walk a mile in our shoes first.

SUSAN BOWLES

SALEM

Are things really this bad?

WHAT IN the world happened in Oklahoma City on April 19? It shocked me that such a terrorist act could happen in the United States!

What is this world coming to? It's gotten to the point where you have to watch your back every second.

What has happened to people? Seems like everyone is turning on everyone. Are things really that bad that innocent children have to die?

God put us on this Earth to love one another, not kill in such a violent manner.

TERESA K. ARGABRIGHT

ROANOKE

Comments on rape were irresponsible

I READ the April 21 article ``Lawmaker: Rape can't impregnate,'' and I'm surprised and bewildered by the ignorance that was displayed in Rep. Henry Aldridge's remarks to the House Appropriations Committee.

For a pregnancy to occur, not only is ``cooperation'' not a requirement, but neither is desire. He made his statements in support of eliminating the fund that helps poor women obtain abortions. Not only were his remarks incorrect, but irresponsible.

Many women have carried the burden of parenting and caregiving for many years. To say that they carry the sole responsibility for conception makes no sense.

Aldridge's remarks reinforce our need for education in this country. Obviously, biology class needs some improvement, but so also do our societal expectations of the responsibilities of women, particularly of their reproductive rights.

Women do not wish to be raped. Rape is an offense that takes away personal power and causes severe emotional pain, not only to the victim, but to their loved ones.

DIANNA BENTON

BLACKSBURG

A radical plan for population control

WELL, I'LL be darned. Those right-wing extremists are more clever than I give them credit for.

I've been puzzled and frustrated by the agenda that's driven by jobs-vs.-environment and anti-abortion issues. From my perspective, I see the fundamental issue as population growth. I believe we don't need more jobs, but fewer people - a decidedly selfish belief.

I can support efforts to stabilize world-population growth, in the United States included, for the entirely selfish motive of sustaining the supplies of natural resources - clean air and water, open space, mineral resources, productive agricultural land, timber products, migratory songbirds, beneficial plants and insects.

I now realize that right-wing extremists do have a plan for the continual provision of more jobs (fewer people) in the face of anti-family-planning activism. The plan makes it easier for people to gain access to weapons for killing each other, with the national movement to encourage individuals to carry concealed weapons. And Virginia is on the cutting edge of this radical plan clearly targeted at population control and job growth.

I had believed that Virginia had abandoned its resolution to encourage sustainable-development concepts in statewide planning efforts - another cutting-edge proposal adopted two years ago by the legislature. My faith in Virginia's system may be healing now that I see the light.

The only improvement I could make to Virginia's concealed-weapons permit bill, with the aim of targeting real issues our society faces, is to legislate with the signing of the bill the issuance of concealed-weapons permits to physicians who provide family planning and abortion services.

TAMMY L. BELINSKY

COPPER HILL

by CNB