A handful of parents responded to my latest column about the ongoing teachers’ dispute.

And several of them wrote that they’re afraid to say anything critical about the conflict.

“Myself and many other parents are hesitant to speak up directly to our children’s teachers (or to even post a comment on this subject on Facebook) for fear of negative repercussions that may arise towards our kids,” wrote one reader in an e-mail. “This concern may be unwarranted, yet regardless — it remains. Sadly, the teachers have this power to take it out on the kids, so we remain silent in order to maintain a positive teacher/student relationship. In our case, the silence is deafening.”

After commenting on the column, yet another parent added, “given that I do not want my children further punished by their teachers, I ask that you not disclose my name.”

Certainly a sad state of affairs.

City councillor Joe Swan says that, despite the fact that it’s projected to lose about $250,000 this season, the city shouldn’t walk away from its venerable amusement park Storybook Gardens.

“Generally, in principle, the parks and recreation department is in the business of providing quality of life services to our community — to provide all those programs in Spectrum, soccer fields, (and) hockey rinks,” says Swan. “And very few of them are predicated on a full cost-recovery model. So these services, like Storybook Gardens and golf courses, etc., this notion or concept of everything as a profit-making business, it’s not how I see us dealing with children and families, as if we’re out to make a dollar.

“Collectively, our community is better off when we work together to provide affordable sports, recreation, health-based services. . . . Running it (Storybook Gardens) like a business, a la Canada’s Wonderland, that’s just not what our community and government is about.

“So, quality of life, affordable and reasonable — let’s nurture and encourage children through play and fun. It makes for a great community.”

My column about the risks associated with riding a bicycle around London prompted several interesting responses. Here are two of them:

Reader D.G.B. had this to say:
“In your article in today’s LFP, Maureen Temme states that ” there are a lot of drivers out there who hate us”. Cyclists need the same lessons about pedestrian’s, as they regularly ride illegally on London sidewalks with impunity. A week ago Sunday, on the holiday weekend I went for my constitutional in Springbank Park, in the afternoon. This was a mistake not to be repeated!  I felt threatened as a walker, by cyclists. As a precautionary measure, I walk toward the oncoming traffic, so I can see the approaching menace. I say, menace, because an acquaintance was run down by a cyclist doing time trials in Springbank. As the gentlemen lay injured on the ground, the cyclist’s first concern was for his mangled, expensive bicycle! As I walked toward traffic in Springbank that day, I was almost run down by a cyclist who refused to give me any space and, in fact, rode toward me, just because he figured I was on his side of the path!
The cycling/motorist/pedestrian story has more than one side.”

I also received this viewpoint from Patrick Connor, executive director of the Ontario Trails Council and vice president of the Canadian Trails Federation:

“Instead of focusing the media on roads, how about on trails. NOTE – as a cyclist, I am fully supportive of safety and regret any loss of life or injury, however……London has 100′s km of off-road trails where people don’t get injured. Trails are just as vital a piece of alternate transportation as roads and, in an effective network, provide greater safety, better air quality, peace of travel and the travel space is shared with folks that want riders on the trail.

“If 10% of the effort was put into answering and providing maps that showed integration instead of forcing Ontario to make Ontario into Holland – (it’s not) accidents and the lack of cycle on road capacity Ontario would be better served.

In his 12-panel exhibit The Fourth Wall, Toronto-based artist/activist Dave Meslin proposes some simple, practical but far-reaching ideas for increasing our engagement with municipal politics.

To find out more about Meslin’s recommendations, check out his profile on the National Speakers Bureau website.

Also, here’s a nice video of Meslin’s recent “Change Camp” presentation in London.

This is National Mental Health Week, and I’ve devoted several recent columns to the topic. Earlier this week, I wrote a column that examined the perspective of local police, who believe that in the majority of cases, mental illness is a health issue and not a policing matter.

And in my latest story, I profile a local woman who, despite a lifetime of hardship caused by schizo-affective disorder, has surmounted her mental illness.

Many people agree that we need to change the way we think about mental illness and lessen the stigma surrounding it. And a new website, called Not Myself Today, aims to mobilize Canadians to do just that.

The site invites people to pledge to do their part, by:

1) Paying more attention to my mental health and well-being

2) Supporting a loved one/friend/co-worker who is living with a mental health issue or illness

3) Challenging the negative stereotypes and attitudes that exist around mental illness

4) Contacting elected officials to help influence policy that will improve the mental health system

5) Volunteering time to support the mental health cause

6) Donating/fundraising for the mental health cause

It’s a fascinating website, filled with personal stories. I urge you to check it out.