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PAGE 6 â€"â€" WATERLQGO CHRONMIC According to plans unveiled in Toronto Monday by Ontario Education Minister Bette Stephenson, those high school days of not too many decades gone by are going to become a lot more than faded memories â€" they‘re going to become reality once again in a hardâ€"line approach to more adequately prepare secondary school students for the everâ€"changing work world. Second Class Mail Registration Number 5540 You know son, back when we were in high school... Whoever coined that phrase must have goose bumps this week. Stephenson‘s guidelines, to be implemented over a sevenâ€"year period, could effectively spell the end of grade 13 as we now know it, by allowing students to complete their secondary school education in as few as four years. Good point made by local educators is that that option has been available in some local schools for several years now. Honors secondary school graduation diplomas will be available until June, 1989, but when the complete overhaul of the system has evolved by 1990, this province will issue only the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Far more important than that slip of paper issued is the recognition of the fact there is a need to return‘ to a solid curriculum emphasizing English, maths and sciences, and requisite courses focusing on the social sciences, business and technological studies. Advancedâ€"level standardized courses will also be compulsory for those universityâ€"bound, and not trifling additional changes include compulsory exams, more concise discipline guidelines and guidance programs for those entering the secondary school level. There‘s no criticism here of the job being done by our present teachers and educators, given the parameters they must work within. And to be sure, an enormous number of outstanding young citizens are turned out yearly from our secondary schools. But there have also been too many shrugs, too much headâ€"shaking, the whatâ€"doâ€"youâ€"wantâ€"usâ€"toâ€"do looks around the hallowed high school halls, many based on proper perception that it is time to restore some oldâ€"fashioned but timeâ€"honored values back into our education system. . _ The train was put back on the track Monday. Take the next one, Bette, to the head of the class. ~ No great theme this week, so will chew around at a few shorter items. One of the recent events that did not exactly send a surge of pride or joy or trust through me was Pierre Trudeau‘s addresses to the nation. They were depressing, not for their content, which was as stale as yesterday‘s news, but for their lack of it. Where was the old wit, the charming shrug, the coy smile, the candyâ€"floss philosophy? All missing. Nothing left but an aging and unwanted politician desperâ€" ately trying to hang on. I found it deeply ironic that the man perhaps least trusted in all of Canada should be pleading with us for trust. He was barking up a hollow tree. The average Canadian has lost his old trust in governâ€" ment, the banks, the economists. This wide distrust has filtered down into our national being until we find it difficult to trust anyone outside our immediate family. And even there, you hever know when your wife is going to open your mail or go through your pockets. Trudeau was right, of course, but I wish the idea had come from someone else. We must regain that trust in our leaders, our institutions, and each other, or the way ahead is one of darkness and despair. But do you really trust the soâ€"called skilled worker who does a job for you? Do We ABC why BILL SMILEY published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo Record Ltd., owner 225 Fairway Rd.S., Kitchener, Ont. address correspondence to Waterivo office: 45 Erb St. E., Waterioo, Ont. N2J 11L7, telephone 886â€"2830 Waterloo Chronicle office is located in the Marper, Haney and White Law Office Building (rear entrance, upper floor). Parking at the rear of the building. Open Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Do I really trust my grandson when he sends a letter to me, through his mum, that says, "I love you very, very much, and I hope you don‘t die for a long, long time."? After all, it is getting close to Christmas. you trust the car salesman? Do you trust the Post Office? Do you trust the Departâ€" ment of Revenue, with its nifty, coldâ€" blooded computers, its warnings, its speed in snatching your money and its tardiness in returning it, without interest? How about your doctor? Your lawyer? Your dentist? Your husband? Your wife? Your children? Do you even trust yourself? That‘s about as close to ‘home as we can get, and I certainly don‘t always trust myself. Enough. But answer honestly. Went to a Professional Development day for teachers recently. Sat near the back of the auditorium While an attractive, highly intelligent woman who had raised seven kids and holds a high post in educational circles tried to inspire us. She did her best, but 1 wondered how much of it was sinking in, when I looked out over the heads of the teachers. The bald, white heads of the majority. 1 couldn‘t help thinking of my first P.D. day, more than twenty years ago. Publisher: Paul Winkler Manager: Bill Karges Editor: Rick Campbell B 8 86 Touching the bases At the afternoon session, went to a seminar about gifted children. It was enlightening, and rather frightening. Many, many parents believe their children are gifted, when they are merely bright. Then, the majority of teachers was young, dedicated, keen, militant, innovaâ€" tive. In 1982, the group was middleâ€"aged, conservative, perhaps just as dedicated, but tired, hanging on, a bit disillusioned. By the time the poor little devils are put through I.Q. and dozens of other criteria, it turns out that there are darn few truly gifted children, and that teaching them is a whole new ball game. At least I am pleased that governments are finally going to pay some attention to the gifted child, and nurture its creativity. Therein lies the future of the world, because these young people are analytical, critical, questioning, not content to swalâ€" low the same old flabby ideas and concepts that society tries to stuff them with.. minds, become bored or frustrated, and frequently drop out of the scene. It‘s a welcome turnâ€"around, but it‘s been a long time coming, and the previous waste of these people has been apailing. For years, all the money has been poured into helping slow learners, a worthy and necessary cause, while the truly gifted were allowed to dull their I get quite a few fan letters, but not too often a fan in the flesh as it were. The other day, a tiny bundle of cheer and energy dropped in: Vikki LePage of the Port Colborne weekly. She pumped up my ego, smoothed my rufflied feathers, and left me feeling quite benign toward the It‘s too late for my own children, but I hope my grandboys, and yours, and your children to come, will benefit from this latest awakening from a long sleep of our educational leaders. This column is too dang serious. Let‘s turn to something a little more lively. I can think of dozens of kids, former students, whose innate giftedness was so thwarted, frustrated or suppressed by the school system and a hypocritical society that they literally dropped out of both and became failures, in the eyes of the world at least. world. remembering all the Joneses I‘d taught: John and Nancy, Bill and Barbara, nice kids all. Vikki and I posed for a picture, arms around each other. Hope it turns out, and made my day. was brought round by a relative,