PARENTS RECEIVING AID SHOULD BE DRUG-TESTED

We are talking about doing drug testing in high schools, but the problems
lie beyond that. Our biggest problem is our economy.

The cost of living in Hawai'i is so expensive, it leaves us no choice. We
have to work (sometimes we end up working two jobs just to be able to
provide a roof over our heads and put food on the table).

My point is: The people getting public support - AFDC, Food Stamps, etc. -
are the ones who need to be drug-tested. If they test positive, then they
should be cut off and put into rehab.

Use that money to come up with some kind of support system that would allow
mothers to spend more time with their children, versus having them work,
which leaves us no choice but to let society raise our kids.

Because parents have to work, the kids have to go to after-school programs,
and eventually the bonding between parents and kids starts to disappear. One
day, we realize that we do not know our kids as well as we would like to.

Aileen S. Whiting

Pearl City