[Winona Online Democracy]
----Those who asked to see it, here is the final copy of our paper-----
Winona Online Democracy
For past few months we have participated in the Winona Online Democracy
e-mail forum. We have discussed several issues, for instance some of the
topics we discussed were, teen activities, the United Way and Boy Scouts
issue, the bike paths, weapons in school, snow removal, school funding,
standardized testing, serving alcohol loud parties, and handicap
accessibility. All of these have to do with you and the Winona community.
In writing this paper we want to enlighten you on the some of the issues
and problems that occur in Winona.
An issue that is very important to the teen community and was
discussed in the Online Democracy E-mail forum was Teen Activities, an
issue we brought up ourselves:
"From a teens point of view, Winona needs more activities. Although we do
have some, like the movie theater, the rec. centers, and Rock Solid. A lot
of these either cost money or are religion based and for some teens they
either can't afford it or feel left out because their religions are
different. We think that there should just be a place for teens to go hang
out, play games, and stay in a good environment that doesn't group teens,
by religion, or culture. In small towns, teens tend to get bored and go to
parties, drink, and do drugs. D.A.R.E although a good program should not be
the only way for teens to stay out of trouble, whether it is drugs,
violence, or gangs. Some people think Winona doesn't have these problems
and maybe in a way they are right, but we will have these problems if teens
have nothing productive to do.
We feared that most of our responses would consist of " Winona doesn't
have the money to fund this," or " you may find Winona a tough rock to roll
over," but fortunately people took notice and hopefully additional options
for teens will be possible. Winona is not completely without anything for
teens to do, we have the movie theater, The rec. centers and Rock Solid,
but the pressure for money or religion is an issue. Some of these places
cost too much money for some teens, or are religion based or teens feel
left out or pressured. None of these places are pushing religion on teens,
but the atmosphere could make teens of other cultures or religions feel
uncomfortable. We are not saying they should not celebrate their religions
with other people, but this also affects teens that are of different
cultures and races and are trying to hold onto their culture. Let’s make it
easier for teens of different cultures, races and religions to have fun
without feeling pressured.
Another topic we discussed was a very controversial one, and there
were a lot different ideas and opinions on what should have been done in
this situation. The Untied Way made the decision to stop the funding for
the Winona area Boy Scouts. They didn't just simply cut the funding, and
they did have a valid reason. When the Boy Scouts were asked to sign a
nondiscrimination form that would allow homosexuals to be leaders, the Boy
Scouts refused to sign it, the United Way refused to support them. Many
people were very angry at the United Way, and some people were very angry
with the Boy Scouts. Here is what some people had to say about this topic:
A resident of Winona named Dean Lanz shared these comments:
" The struggle for gay rights is the next big civil rights movement we face
in this nation, and the United way should be commended for taking a lead in
that struggle" and "What is the bigger harm? Missing a couple of camp-outs
or living with the shame of invidious discrimination every day?" Many
people wrote letters to Online Democracy, many to the editor in the paper,
to the Boy Scouts and to The United Way, taking either side, but the main
concern was the discrimination and how it made Winona look.
One issue that we discussed affects the teen population greatly is
weapons in school. Although children in kindergarten and other grades may
have guns or other weapons available to them, they usually don’t use them.
Teens on the other hand may use a gun or other weapon for hunting with
family or if they have them available they will use them in school to harm
or threaten someone. Some people think that weapons in school isn’t an
issue, but that teen’s privacy is more of an issue. Some people feel teens
will lose their privacy if teens are required to have clear backpacks, no
backpacks, or get your bag checked every morning. Yes that is invading the
privacy of some teens, but honestly, we feel our lives are more important
than our privacy.
Many bills are being passed to make weapon abuse laws harsher. One
bill that was recently passed by the house was the concealed weapons bill.
Although this will help it will not get rid of the problem, maybe we are
targeting the wrong end of the problem. Perhaps the problem is how they are
getting a hold of these weapons and why they are doing this? Are they doing
this to fit in, are they unsupervised or are people not looking or even
noticing the signs?
Another topic discussed was the Winona Art Center and the lack of
handicap accessibility. We are glad that this was brought up because it
truly is unfair to the handicapped members of our community to not be able
to enjoy the Art Center and the events held there, and other places in
Winona that may not be handicap accessible. Some people suggested that a
ramp should be built on the west side of the building where the fire escape
is. Hopefully Winona will build a ramp at the Art Center in the near future.
Is there a problem with alcohol being served to minors in
Winona? Many people seem to think so. This is an email sent by an Online
Democracy member named Pam:
"I have a problem and I'm hoping someone can help me with it. As
some of you know, I am from CA so this is new to me. Here is Winona it
seems to be normal to serve alcohol to minors. I keep getting told by
parents that's its no big deal because they are drinking at home with the
parent's permission. Now isn't that illegal? I know that in CA the parents
would be locked up. Why not here? I am mostly concerned because of the
graduation parties that will be a regular sight soon. The parents buy the
beer for the other adults, but if the kids drink it, they don't do anything
about it. I know of a party next month that even has on the invitation that
beer will be served (to the minors). I'm sorry, but I think this is
horrible and I don't think it should be allowed. I'm not even serving beer
to the adults at my daughter's graduation party. I have already had one
parent arrested for buying alcohol for minors 2 years ago and I wish there
were other parents out there that would do the same; but everyone is afraid
of how it will look. All I really want to know, is why do these parents
think it's ok to serve alcohol to kids?"
Hopefully as this discussion progresses, people will start getting in
more trouble for this offense. Its sad that the only way these kids can
have fun is by taking drugs.
Winona Online Democracy has been a very interesting, educational, and mind
expanding experience. We learned so much more about Winona and the issues
and problems that occur in this city than we knew. Winona Online Democracy
also opened our minds to learning about and actively participating in
discussion of Winona. It allows us to voice our opinions and have people
listen to them and acknowledge our good ideas, even though we're just kids.
What was so great was that we were able to hear the opinions and ideas of
our fellow Winonans. This was an experience that we appreciate being able
to participate in.
If you would like to join Online Democracy, go to
http://onlinedemocracy.winona.org.
At the web site you can find information on Online Democracy, sign up and
if you’re not interested in joining you can still check the discussions in
the message archive.
Here is what some of the online democracy members had to say about online
democracy:
“Many common people talking about important topics is a powerful sound”.
Dwayne Voegli
“There are many good things about online Democracy that I want to say. The
ability to write one's thoughts and to share those thoughts with other
citizens in Winona is an excellent way to learn about views of people one
might never meet at meetings. I especially like the fact that I am able to
respond to online democracy at odd hours of the day when I could not express
my thoughts at a given meeting time. Courtesy is important in this effort
to communicate online.”
Lee Luebbe
We would like to acknowledge:
The Winona Daily News and their photographer Blake Darst
Carolyn J Nelson
Dwayne Voegli
Dean Lanz
Lee Luebbe
Pam, a member of the Winona Online Democracy.
A big, special thanks to all of the members of the Winona Online Democracy
and those who contributed to our wonderful experience.
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