MAILBAG: An endless list of rude behavior

ABC Channel 7 is promoting a current feature asking viewers to send in items that irritate them, and they will try to find out the causes and solutions.

Let me say, they do not have the budget to cover the things that irritate me about present-day conditions. First, the losers who wear their belts below their butts — look into that disgusting trend. Second, morons who wear their baseball caps backward. Third, the other day I was waiting in a line to get a pizza at Costco and looked up and down the line on both sides and every single person except myself was either texting or on a cell phone — and I will bet you my next residual check that not one of them had anything valid or essential to text or talk about.

And let’s not get into texting while driving a car — we have seen time and time again where that stupid habit leads. Fourth, the no-shaving trend — when in God’s name are you ladies going to finally put your foot down about that?

To my fellow entertainment brothers, when are you going to stop walking the red carpet for most award shows, looking like you just jumped off the boxcar from Modesto? Is that supposed to be rebellion? Rude behavior at sporting events is also a big boar. I realize that many people now have the dollar means to purchase a seat or two, but that does not mean they own the stadium; people sitting around you have also paid for their seats.

My neighbors who continually wash their cars when they know full well we have water problems in this city — I could go on and on, the list is endless. No, ABC7 does not have the time or the money to look into all the bad and rude behavior that surrounds us, but I applaud their attempt to try. So let’s see where this will lead them, or if it will help start us back on the road to civil behavior.

JOSEPH DI SANTE

Burbank

Can’t afford to lose Outreach Center

On July 1, I retired from the Burbank Unified School District. A civic leader asked me, “Before you leave, do you have one piece of advice for us?” I do. It’s simple. Continue the Outreach Center.

I have been blessed to work closely with the students, parents and educators in this community for more than 30 years. Through the center, for the past 22 years I have been lucky to collaborate with the police department, Los Angeles County probation and mental health providers — particularly Dr. Jerry Hanson, who has donated his time to our efforts for the past 10 years — and the county Department of Child and Family Services to coordinate family services so that children stay safe at home and are secure in school.

When we founded the Burbank Outreach Center, then-Gov. Pete Wilson visited and declared it an idea whose time was right. Little did he know how right he was.

While it seemed a novel approach then to coordinate activities among all child-serving agencies, our efficiencies and success caught the nation’s attention. Forbes magazine lauded the Outreach Center’s “common sense” procedures. We presented the model at conferences and FBI symposiums. And because it worked in Burbank, communities around the country looked to us for advice on coordinating services and communicating more effectively.

At the center, we — representatives of the above agencies — wove our safety net tight, so students wouldn’t slip through holes. Services to families were focused and linked, not disconnected. We were accountable to the schools, parents and to each other’s agencies. We reduced wasteful effort, red tape and runaround.

The results were striking: We reduced truancy and rooted out gang activity. We helped students and families understand the value of graduation, and pointed students who otherwise may have dropped out in the direction of alternative educational opportunities and followed up on their successes. Most of all, we helped families get services quickly so they could regain stability and get children back in school.

In the 2007-08 school year, the Outreach Center held more than 450 meetings to assist families in crisis; our meetings involved some 500 children. In a district of more than 15,000 students, this may not sound like a lot. But every successfully served family represents one more chance for academic success for their children, one more step toward healing, one more opportunity to make it in today’s difficult world, one more step toward a productive life.

It is not news to the readers of the Burbank Leader that California — indeed, the nation — is facing an unprecedented economic crisis. In hard times, as parents lose jobs, and homes, family crises escalate. Parents of all socioeconomic groups have fewer coping mechanisms and may resort to less-than-model behavior. When children are caught in the middle, these troubles follow them to school. They lose focus, disrupt others and cause a negative ripple effect that pulls educators away from their primary job: to teach.

So yes, my one piece of advice is to preserve the Outreach Center. The need for services for families in crisis is rising. Budgets are tightening. To ignore the needs of families in crisis is to “kick the can” down the road when the cost in lives and dollars becomes so much more. The center has proved its success and cost-effectiveness over the years. It would be penny- wise and pound foolish to try to create a model anew when we already have a successful model that other towns are turning to.

MARISSA GEHLEY

Burbank

EDITOR’S NOTE: Marissa Gehley retired in June as coordinator of school safety and the Burbank Outreach Center, which she co-founded in 1987. She is president of KNOW Consulting: Kids Need Our Wisdom.

Dressing up dogs for Halloween

During this Halloween season, many pet owners like to dress their dogs.

My friends and I researched people’s opinions on dog costumes to complete a Girl Scout project. We asked people if they like to dress their dogs, and 22 out of 38 said they do only because, “It’s funny, but the dogs don’t like it,” and “If the dog looks cute, then they might like it because the other dogs will be jealous.”

Please keep this in mind as Halloween approaches. Thank you!

LIZZY BRIGGS

Burbank