A Missed Opportunity ?

 

Moving to Wise County about two years ago, I was shocked at the amount of litter that lined the roads throughout the area. I mentioned to a couple of people that the only other place I had ever seen so much trash tossed about was in the Middle East (Kuwait and Iraq). Having served for a period of almost 30 years in the Army, I realize that I tend to have a rather critical eye for this stuff. I’ve done more than my share of ‘police calls’ in those 30 years, and last year picked up 12 bags of trash along the road where I live. I only did about a 1 mile stretch, and then simply extended about 6 feet from the sides of the road – in other words, I did not pick up ALL the trash, but I felt I made a big dent in our little corner of the county.

I believe that littering reflects a lack of values, morals, and ethics. I believe that tossing ones trash out the window is a strong indicator of a lack of responsibility and a lack of citizenship. It’s a cycle that must be broken and I believe that the way to break it is through educating our young. I do not believe that teachers are the answer to all the worlds’ ills – yet a rather famous Virginian named Thomas Jefferson thought the world of teachers and the role they would play in maintaining a newly established democracy. He felt so strongly in fact, that he wrote a model of education for our young Nation, and later led the founding of the University of Virginia, a model for higher education in post-Revolutionary America. I think then it is only fair to Mr. Jefferson that we ensure our children learn about positive values, morals, and ethics during their formative years. We would hope that this is a collaborative effort, engaging both parents and teachers, but must also understand that for some school is the only place where values and morals will be, or can be, taught.

If we provide our children with strong values, and establish a sense of responsibility - to community and fellow citizens - then perhaps we can start to break this cycle of littering. When children begin to question why Daddy is tossing the couch out of the back of the truck on the side of the road, then perhaps Daddy will think twice; when they ask Mommy why she threw that bag of McDonalds trash out the window, maybe she will stop and think – after all, Wise County has a great system in place which allows us to pull up and dispose of much of our trash and refuse just by dropping by a Convenience Center. Some may complain that they don’t have a truck to haul the unwanted items with, but are somehow able to haul the junk down the road and dump it in the ‘middle of nowhere’ – which just happens to be somewhere to my neighbors and I.

Unfortunately this is closely related to another important subject. I’ve got a puppy that I rescued from the road. My neighbors have a pure-bred German shepherd they rescued; we all have cats that people have just dumped out of their cars and sped off. We’ve called Animal Control and PAWS multiple times when we’ve passed another dog dumped on the side of the road, lost, hungry, and scared. Without values and morals these people view a dog or cat as just so much trash to be disposed of, which allows them to dump pets in the ‘middle of nowhere’ and just drive off without a second thought.

I’ve been thinking about this letter since I moved here and it has taken this long to think it through and get it written down. I was out running around the track in Wise this evening. The trash was overflowing from the cans, but I don’t have a problem with that, since it was actually in the cans awaiting collection and disposal. The problem I had was along the sidelines – the players benches were covered with plastic bottles from water and sports drinks. Some had fallen off the benches and were haphazardly laying in the grass – wherever that particular bottle landed when someone stepped on it, or kicked it aside – anything but bending over and picking it up. I’ve always been told that getting our children involved in sports helps to develop them into responsible adults, makes them resilient, enforces values of shared responsibility and teamwork; helps to mold good citizens. This is what I’ve always believed and been led to believe, so I have to then believe that we missed an opportunity when we just let our athletes wander off without picking up after themselves. This is a fundamental. It’s called Discipline. It is required for a fully functioning team. I think it was a missed opportunity.

I am not blaming our coaches or our athletes for the litter problem in this County. It existed long before they came along, however, I believe that they stand to gain by adding this little bit of discipline to the greater program. If they help to sow the seeds we perhaps will begin to notice change even quicker. We will not break this cycle in just a year or two; it will take a generation, but we can make meaningful progress each day by simply doing the right thing and asking our families, friends, and neighbors to do the same.

Respectfully Submitted,

Samuel Boyle