European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 20, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes caring for children complicated process of we have a major problem in the euro Pean command and 1 should think the same problem in the Pacific command As Well. This problem needs to be faced and treated in the commands instead of being sent to the Continental United states conus As if Well now that the problem is stateside there really is no problem any longer we All know of at least one family with a child who is either extremely difficult or should i say impossible for the parents or anyone else to control. Instead of facing the situation head on our com mands Force on the family an Early re turn of dependents to  for most of these children this is not punishment this is a Reward. Just Lis ten to them when they find out that they Are going to be Able to leave in Advance of their parents Deros Date of return from overseas. Why do we try to hide from the fact that we the military have incorrigible juvenile delinquent by we Are typically the same As the non military americans stateside. We have the same problems As they do in the states no matter where relive. Come on people let s face up to reality Why am i so Upsel because in my Community we have a number of Chil Dren who arc juvenile Deli quells and whose families Are being punished in Stead of the child. I will use one family in particular As my example because they Are going through this right now this family has three children two boys and one daughter. The daughter the Middle child has run away from Home 1s limes in the last two years the parents have no problems with either of the boys. They treat All three of the Chil Dren the same. None of them is abused in any form of the word. They Are not neglected. They arc All three loved an the love is shown to them in every Way possible. The parents have tried every Way they or anyone else can think of Short of kill ing the daughter to Stop her from run Ning away. She ran away just before Christmas. She was gone for two Days. When she returned she promised her entire family that she would never run again. The Promise lasted about three weeks. The parents Are at their wit s end. Her Brothers who used to defend her Are finally completely disgusted with her. The parents finally tried to find some Way to put her in a Reform school Here in Germany. But the Cost Tor the school runs from 3,500-4,000 Marks per month which the Parent would have to pay out of their own pockets because the . Government will not help pay. This is from the army whose motto is we  we have to face facts people and not try to hide our dirty Linen. Come on let s clean up. How Many families Are going through hell because of their child How Man families Are being put through an almost impossible financial situation because the we care army does not want to face the problem with open eyes and to treat the problem openly. When we Send these families Back to the states do you really think thai the child undergoes a miraculous improvement these kids arc sent Bac where they wanted to be in the first i lace. They have even easier Access to everything in arc in inc Stales than icy had Here in Europe. All we arc doing when we Send Hemback to the world is hiding the fact that we do have problems just like every other american Community whether in the Usa or overseas. Let s Slop hiding our Heads in the Sand and do something about it. We can Start up some son of facility like the confine mint Center in Mannheim or help the families financially to pay for Reform school. We have enough qualified people in our commands to staff such a Center. By inc time these families Are setback to the states they have undergone psychiatric evaluation of one sort or an other and i can Tell you from talking with most of the kids who have seen psychiatrists the kids think the psychiatrist Are a joke. Let s Slop rewarding these kids with a free trip Home to the states Long before their sponsor s Date of return from Over seas. Let s Start treating them the Way they would be treated if they lived in the states. How Many kids overseas see the a the bad kids gel rewarded and decide if that is the Way to go Home Early then they will do the same7 we As parents Are responsible for the behaviour of our children but sometimes there is no controlling the child and we have to look for help. Let s help them Here  Pir Masens West German editor s note Darrell d. Pres Nell acs program manager Community and family support Agency Liq l Sar eur replies As the writer indicates parents Are responsible for the behaviour of their Chil Dren. This can be difficult and sometimes beyond the capability of he parents the suggestion to establish a Reform school for incorrigible juvenile delinquents Here in Europe probably bib into the just nol feasible category. The Politi Cal ramifications involving the status of forces agreement and . Government jurisdiction Over civilians i far reach there is shortage Al personnel my funding to fully accomplish Many related and needed social sen ices to number of treatment staff to respond to confirmed child ind Poue abuse cues ii he fall Clell sane of these same  get involved with difficult children. No significant increases to staff it fat Tea in be new Falynn. Reduction in military and Villan Ilaff Are now Oean Rini to help balance the nation  decisions it the dam Tiveal of the array level in he past two Rem hire eliminated the dec of appropriate Itaf tax dollars for renter Ore except far command directed pm meat Bett of child Abac or neglect tacked at by Host nation court order. Parent Ore required to reimburse for there exposes Mew found la be in andallo Mau to pay. Then can be no expectation then that pm in Reform Boot would be authorized support from Ann foods. It seen Hud and uncaring to return these children Early to the United  action is intended to place the Chil Dren within the Legal framework of the . Government where appropriate my port is most Likely available. There is do explicit intent to hide these children Al though in Many instances they serve Ai an  to the United states. Caring parents must work with pc Cal army helping agencies to facilitate Good placement and adequate care for any Chil Dren sent Home Early. The solution nay not be the ultimate. It is better thin the alternative of no help and often better than involving the Host nation Legal pro commissary use of plastic bags discussed i am a Bagger Al a commissary that recently received plastic bags. We were told the reason for the switch from paper to plastic was that he plastic is cheaper by about one cent per bag and much cheaper to ship. Arc these the Only costs involved 1 have bagged with these bags Long enough to know that we cannot bag As fast with them As with paper bags. We can bag in Only two bags at a time opposed to three with paper bags. Because we can t go As fast Means inc cashier must slow Down which Means the Cus Tomer must wait longer. In order to provide the same service 10 the customer the commissary should open More lines More Money. It lakes about three times As Many plastic bags per order contrary to what the bag reps say so How docs this save Money it also takes More Carls per order for take outs causing some commissaries to buy More carts More Money. How about the environment i m sure everyone is concerned with this these plastic bags leave inc store by inc thou Sands maybe line a Small trash can and then arc thrown away. Just think about Alt the things a paper bag can do for you. You can wrap pack Ages to Send Home line the Bird Cage or Cai bos cover school books carry things to the Thrift shop pack a picnic lunch empty charcoal dust and i m sure the list goes on and on. When the Brown paper bag is no longer needed it can be safely burned plastic cannot. Paper can be disposed of easily while plastic is a problem and a threat to the environment. Plastic is not biodegradable now let s address your groceries. With plastic bags we have no control Over protecting your vegetables breads eggs donuts or chips. These plastic bags have no stability once off their Racks Thuv just fall Over and everything comes rolling out. These bags arc Fine for the express lines with Small orders but not for pay Days when we arc bagging $200 and j Joo orders. The handles Are not As Strong As claimed and a customer told me the Bot Tom broke on her. Yes in Alt fairness paper bags will tear but at least you can hold on to them. Longer lines slower service and damaged food is All this Worth the Money that is supposed to be saved if so where is the extra Money going or will they reduce our 5 percent service charge let me ask something else. Were you As a customer Ever asked you preference on what bags were used 1 know i was t either As a customer or As a Bagger. Does t our service charge buy us any service including Good bags 1 think we should stand together and Lei our commissaries know we Are mad and want our Brown paper bags. Name hid location withheld editor s note John f. Mcgownn Deputy to the commander. Air Force commissar service european Region replies air Force commissaries have not switched to using Only plastic bags but have supplemented the use of paper bags with Plo Sale bags. The decision is Lowich Buji will be used is left up to the customer. Then Are a number of reasons Why we added plastic bags. They Are 20 percent cheaper than paper bags require considerably less Pace to stare and act As a backup if due to circumstances beyond our control the Supply of paper bags is disrupted. With regard to the environment the plastic Industry ii working hard to develop a plastic bag that can be disposed of without causing damage to the environment. Hopefully this development will become reality within the Nur future. The Vendor who supplies the plastic bags has developed a pamphlet entitled guide to easier faster sacking which should help to alleviate the problems you Are having protecting groceries As Well As problems experienced when digging with a Lull bags. Your Bead Bagger should be Able to provide Yon tilth a copy. Editor s note the second reply is from cot. Neil ii. Mini Row Mailer . Army trap support Agency Europe you Are apparently nut a Bagger Al an army commissary in Europe because we Don l yet use plastic bags Al our Check outs. Hut since we plan la begin using them this coming fall and the stirs and stripes has sent us your letter we thought it would be a Good Opportunity to explain what we see As the advantages of plastic Bas and what our policies will be re guiding their use. The . Army troop support Agency Tsa which manages army commissaries tins annually expended on overage s8 million for the Pur Chase of paper bags. Ii is eve peeled thai by using plastic bags s1.5 Mil lion Cun be saved. The monies for the Purchase of bags comes from funds generated by the s percent surcharge added to commissary shoppers Bills. Since these funds Are also used to pay far such things As new equipment and construction and renovation of rom Lusa rules savings in other areas Means surcharge fund can be spent on More permanent improvements that nil directly Benefit our customers. Tsa commissaries in the United states Are using the plastic bags and have received Many favourable comments about them from customers. Since they have handles plastic bags an easier to carry and several May be carried at  they Are Waterproof wet items Don t break through and dry items stay dry in wet weather. Customers have found Many uses for them such As trash bags Beach bags school bags and lunch bags. Regarding the environmental con Cerns you raise in is of interest to note that the manufacture of plastic bags requires less Energy than the manufacture of paper ones. Also the raw material used to make pm Islic big hydrocarbon contains no toxic element Matin their manufacture an exceptionally clean protest. The bags themselves Are also hygienic and odourless. And m we have already painted out they can a recycled. When we do begin using the bogs in our european commissaries customers will be Given Choice of which they pre Fer. Certainly if they Aren t asked they should state their preference. The supplier of the plastic bags Uto furnish double bag dispensers thai can be boiled to the rear pullout shelf. This will give the Bagger Access to to open big so that he or she can evenly Divide Light and heavy items Between the bags ind separate perishable items from dry goods. The supplier is Lisa to provide training 0 thai baggers will know How to prop Erly Load the bag dispenser pack the bags and Load them into carts. We Are convinced that customers will find plastic bags to be � significant advantage when properly used and thai the Money we save in doing so will Benefit All our customer in the inn run