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News & Views - September,
2001 Issue (page 3)
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Page 3 of 3 - Previous
THINK MTV HAS GONE TO POT? HERE'S WHY NOT
(August 23, 2001) Online entertainment news service, Infobeat,
reports the music video for the hit song “Because I Got High”, recently banned from MTV, finally was approved for the music channel
because most direct references to smoking were edited out. The song, by Afroman, appears on “The Good Times,” from Universal Records
and on the soundtrack to the new Kevin Smith movie, “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.” “I messed up my entire life because I got
high/ I lost my kids and wife because I got high/now I’m sleeping on the sidewalk/and I know why - ‘cause I got high,” are some of
the song’s lyrics. The chart-climbing tune has been circulating for months and has gotten heavy air-play on radio stations around
the U.S.
PACIFIC COAST ACADEMY CONTROVERSY
(August 2001) The Pacific Coast Academy, Western Samoa, has been in the national news this last month. A summary
of articles, including a series of front page stories on the Samoa Observer, can be found on StrugglingTeens.com's
News page. Swirling around the school are allegations of abuse, denials, charges, countercharges, the removal of some students
by the American Consulate, the return of some students to the school, some parents defending the school, while others have removed
their child and threatened lawsuits. As near as we can tell, the list of participants in the school includes Steve Cartisano,
identified as the school’s marketing agent in the US. In some stories, Cartisano was one of the school owners, who has been surrounded
by controversy in several schools where he has been involved, starting with the Wilderness Challenger in the early nineties. Also
listed is: Lonnie Fuller, Director of the School, who has had some association with Cartisano at least since the New Hope Academy started
falling apart two years ago and Steve Wofford, camp director. Dave Parker was identified as the owner of the property leased
by Pacific Coast Academy and occasional agent for the school. He is also the Director of the Youth Rehabilitation Administration
Agency of Western Samoa, which claims to have licensed Pacific Coast Academy as a “licensed residential treatment center in good standing....”
Others involved include Junior Moeai and Sam Schwenke, Directors who had left the school, Academy Attorney, Maiava Visekota Peteru,
and David Weston, who is identified as a consultant. Moana Thunken, is the clinical director, and Dan Wakefield is the owner of New
Hope, who originally signed the lease with Dave Parker. Woodbury Reports will welcome statements by people with personal knowledge
of this school or situation for inclusion on our web site, either for or against.
STUDY FINDS KIDS WHO ARE SPANKED GROW UP EMOTIONALLY OK
(August 28, 2001) In a USA Today story written by Marilyn Elias, psychologist Diana Maumrind of California-Berkeley,
a “seminal figure in the psychology of parenting,” spoke at the American Psychological Association meeting in San Francisco. “American
parents have been misled by “politically correct” experts who warn that spanking kids ruins their mental health…Occasional or even
frequent swats don’t cause maladjustment. The only youngsters harmed psychologically are those whose parents hit them often and hard
– frequently with blunt instruments.” “The problem is,” according to Mark Wolraich, spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics,
which opposes corporal punishment of children, “it’s very hard for parents to stop at this mild level she’s talking about. Often they’re
very angry, and it’s done impulsively.” Maumrind’s “now-classic studies …showed that “authoritative” parenting – setting clear limits
but explaining their rationale to children – produced the functioning adults.” University of New Hampshire sociologist Murray Straus
says studies show “the more spanking, the worse of the child is…we also know there’s a link between corporal punishment and hitting
dating partners later. Parents should use strategies that work better than spanking.”
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