THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, March 5, 1996                 TAG: 9603050008
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL  
TYPE: Letter
                                             LENGTH: Short :   47 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** Leroy S. Williams of the 800 block of Knottingham Road, Portsmouth, asked that we tell readers that he is not the person who wrote the letter ``Bad choices will haunt you'' (March 5). Correction published Saturday, March 9, 1996 o page A12 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. ***************************************************************** BAD CHOICES WILL HAUNT YOU

Regarding ``Working hard, working poor'' (news, Feb. 15): My heart goes out to the Mendes family and Phyllis A. Gibson. If I were rich, I would give them some financial help. It does bother me that the article makes them appear to be victims of some terrible society.

Both families are in the situations they have created from making poor choices. Lack of education and poor family planning have sealed their fate. Today, everyone wants to blame someone else or difficult circumstances for their own obvious reckless and irresponsible decisions.

All parents in Hampton Roads should make their school-age children read about the Mendes and Gibson families. When know-it-all teenagers give up their free-education opportunity, quitting high school or getting pregnant or married at age 18 or younger, they have set themselves on a course that will usually guarantee that they will never earn much more than minimum wage for the rest of their lives.

So what if you are strong and willing to work hard; when there are thousands of job applicants equally as strong and willing to work hard, with good grade records, diplomas, degrees and no past trouble with police or juvenile authorities, who gets the good jobs? The system has always worked this way, but as decades pass, the competition gets tougher as more kids go to college and then compete for fewer good jobs.

Young people should think about it - think about it, and stay in school!

LEROY WILLIAMS

Portsmouth, Feb. 16, 1996 by CNB