LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We can do more to conserve city water
The City of Peterborough has asked citizens to reduce their water consumption by cutting down on laundry and shower time due to the ongoing rainfall and snowmelt, as it is impacting the wastewater treatment plant and pumping station.
This is a good time for my small suggestion to help address the world’s water problems. One way to cut down laundry for single people is to reuse your sheets in double, queen or king-sized beds, or sleeping on the other side.
This keeps laundry to a minimum and reduces the use of power and laundry detergent.
Saving water is a world problem. Let’s do our part - it’s just one of many solutions. Let’s think of more.
Marilyn White, Peterborough
Congratulations to I.E. Weldon from St. Peter’s
Congratulations go to I.E. Weldon Secondary School for raising the most funds last year for the Terry Fox campaign.
We are proud of our regional commitment to fighting to eliminate the scourge of cancer everywhere. We at St. Peter's are also very proud of our achievements over our 27-year involvement with the Terry Fox foundation. Our community as a whole has demonstrated an extremely dedicated effort and has run many successful campaigns.
We stress at our touchdown event that it is not the efforts of any one school, but the efforts of the entire community that have made such huge contributions to the fight. We at St. Peter's do not wear a crown. We at St. Peter's simply believe in the cause and work hard to do our best.
To turn this noble campaign into a competition is not the spirit in which we proceed. It is not the spirit, I believe, that Terry would approve of. As well as raising an incredible amount of money for the fight against cancer, we teach young people the value of volunteerism and community involvement while coming together in great numbers to celebrate our achievement.
There are no winners or losers, no competition, and no crowns. Let's keep it that way.
Joe Webster, campaign chair, Terry Fox Campaign, St. Peter Catholic Secondary School
What can I do to help #MeToo movement?
I am a member of the #MeToo movement. Four times I was sexually assaulted by inappropriate touching between the ages of 4 and 13 by four different males, in the late 1940s and early 1950s As a teenager I felt guilty. I asked myself many questions. Why had I let this happen? Why had I not told my parents, anybody? Why did they do it?
I had a deep faith in Jesus and a church, which supported me. Later I questioned the exclusive language of the church. I was told “That’s the way it is.”
In 1974 I was introduced to ways of making my language inclusive. Ever since I have worked to use and educate others about the need for language to includes females. School boards, health care and editors produced lists of appropriate terms to use to make language inclusive but they are often ignored.
In 2018 a TV female interviewer thanked a group of high school girls, who talked about sexual abuse in high schools (boys had been invited but declined the invitation), by saying "Thanks guys." Again a female moderator thanked a mixed panel of adults "Thanks guys.” Webster's dictionary defines guy - n. a boy or man; fellow: a slang word. v. to make fun of; tease; used only in every day talk."
Using guys makes gals invisible. It infers women are not as important as their male counterparts. If we really want to address the #MeToo movement and the problems of sexual abuse we need to review our use of exclusive language and the effect it has on the self- esteem of girls and boys from birth.
Prue Watts, RN, PHN, BSc, Peterborough