The P.E.l. Department of Social 
     
    
   
   
    
     Services tast week unveiled its 
     
     prOpOsals for new comprehensive 
     
    
   
   
    
     children's legislation at a public 
     
    
   
   
    
     meeting which drew both con- 
     
     siderate and courious comment 
     
     ‘ from the large number of people 
     
     attending. In summary, the 
     
     Department proposes: to codify. 
     
     in law a number of basic rights 
     
     of children; to eliminate the. 
     
     legal status of illegitimacy; 
     
     to eliminate as much as possible 
     
     adversary proceedings in 
     
     child custody matters: and to 
     
     provide a much wider range 
     
     of options for families in 
     
     distress; to make provisions for 
     
     fathers of children born 
     
     within commonlaw unions to r 
     
     be heard in le:gal proceedings 
     
     pertaining to their children; 
     
     to establish conditions fer 
     
     disclosure of information 
     
     regarding adopted children; and 
     
     generally to bring other as- 
     
     pects of legislation pertaining 
     
     to children and families in 
     
     line with current philosophy 
     
     practice and with public values. 
     
     There was a mixed reaction 
     
     to many of the proposals 
     
     including an accusation that 
     
     the Department proposes to 
     
     sanction immorality and an 
     
     abandonment of Christian 
     
     values pertaining to the 
     
     ,family.and to home. One 
     
     ymcomment was made that if the 
     
     V Same rights accrued to 
     
     'children and fathers outside 
     
     marriage as within marriage, 
     
     then there would be less 
     
     incentive to marry! The chair- 
     
     man 
     
    
   
   
    
     of the meeting, Mr. Eugene MacDonald 
     
    
   
   
    
     of the departmental staff, 
     
     stated that the legal status 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     '1 mt SUN‘JllliitSISAYSE‘PT 22 1977’pagg'3‘  
     
     Proposed Leg 
     
    
   
   
    
     SOcIAtastRVICE 
     
    
   
   
    
     of the child should not depend 
     
    
   
   
    
     the parents, and that the 
     
     child born out-of-wedlock 
     
     should have the same .2 
     
     rights in all respects as the 
     
     child born within wedlock. 
     
    

    
     Last year some faculty 
     
     members sponsored meetings 
     
     to consider issues pertaining 
     
     to battered children. The 
     
     new legislation proposes 
     
     to make mandatory the reporting 
     
     of cases where child battering 
     
     is suspected, although 
     
     lawyers present suggestidns 
     
     that this type of legislation 
     
    
   
   
    
     is more symbolic than practical. 
     
     there were mixed feelings on the 
     
    
   
   
    
     subject of child protection, 
     
     with some persons showing 
     
    

    
     more concern with the rights 
     
    

    
     of parents and the sanctity 
     
    

    
     of the home than with 
     
    

    
     the protection of children from 
     
     neglect and abuse by their 
     
    

    
     own parents. One lawyer 
     
    

    
     present indicated that parents 
     
     of no rights with respect to 
     
    
   
   
    
     their children, only obligations. 
     
    
   
   
    
     That left open the question 
     
     of what happens at the door 
     
     of the castle when parents 
     
     are not providing for the 
     
     care and safety of their 
     
     children, with some persons 
     
     pleading for greater atten‘ 
     
     tion by the Department to 
     
     the phenomenon of “emotional 
     
     battering.” 
     
    

    
     This is the sort of 
     
     legis;ation that should be 
     
     of more than passi ng 
     
     .interest to the University 
     
     community, for it involves 
     
     community values, social 
     
     philosophy, human relation- 
     
    
   
   
    
     on the legal relationship between 
     
    
   
   
    
     is I a ti on c a u sis e s‘ U  
     
    
   
   
    
     S-lCCUSED OFlMMORALITY 
     
    
   
   
    
     shins and human rights, 
     
     property rights and a whole 
     
     host of public policy issues. 
     
     The Deputy Minister of the 
     
     Department, Mr. J.E. Green, 
     
     told the SUN that the propsed 
     
     legislation—faces a lét of 
     
     hurdles yet before it be- 
     
     comes law. “We have to 
     
     fully satisfy the Minister 
     
     on some of our proposals, 
     
     then the Cabinet Committee 
     
     on Legislation, afterwards 
     
     Executive Council, then the 
     
     Government Caucas, and finallv 
     
     the Legislative Aszzmtiv 
     
     itself. There is every 
     
     liklihood that our proposals 
     
     will be substantially 
     
     revised by the time the pro- 
     
     cess is completed,” he ‘ 
     
     said, “and we would Very much 
     
     welcome the informed 
     
     views of the University Community. 
     
     The new law will combine 
     
     four present acts: the Adoption 
     
     Act, the Children's Act, the 
     
     Child Protection Act and the 
     
     Child Care Facilities Act. 
     
     Copies of the pr0posals 
     
     may be obtained simply 
     
     by writing or calling at the 
     
     Department of Social SErvices, 
     
     Provincial Administrative 
     
     Building, Charlottetown, 
     
    
   
   
    
     Editor's note: 
     
    

    
     For the benefit of the 
     
     faculty, it should be pointed 
     
     out that the elimination 
     
     of the legal status of illeg- 
     
     itimacy will not eliminate the 
     
     epithet hitherto attached 
     
     to that status. They wé‘l still 
     
     be referred to in the same 
     
     kindly terms as in the past. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     STUDENT/FACULTY ADVISOR PROGRAMME 
     
     ‘OF‘TO A soon START 
     
    
   
   
    
     On September 6, the new 
     
     Faculty/Student AdviSOr Pro- 
     
     gram got off to a good start 
     
     with approximately 53 par- 
     
     ticipating in an Orientation 
     
     Program in the Lecture The- 
     
     atre of the Robertson Lib— 
     
     rary. Following that, the T 
     
     A6 students involved star 
     
     tioned themselves in the 
     
     gym, armed with a list 
     
     of lh_names, and hopeful 
     
     that they would be able to 
     
     match them with a face. 
     
    

    
     Meanwhile, the A6 Facul- 
     
     ty Advisors were located 
     
     in their offices awaiting 
     
     a visit by their Freshman 
     
     Advisees, led by the Stu- 
     
     dent_AdvisOr. 
     
    

    
     This program had been 
     
     in the planning stage 
     
     since early spring and it 
     
     was very reWarding for my- 
     
     self and my Committee to 
     
     finally see it come to . 
     
     full bloom. The enthusiasm 
     
    

    
     and the sense of committ- 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     ment generated at the Dr- 
     
     ientation Meeting made our 
     
     efforts very worthwhile. 
     
     Furthermore, we were as- 
     
     sured that this incoming 
     
     Freshmen Class were in a 
     
     very privileged position' 
     
     due to the fact they had ' 
     
     this group of people in- 
     
     terested in them. Not all. 
     
     of the Freshmen students 
     
     could be assigned to a 
     
     Faculty and Student Ad- 
     
    
   
   
    
     .visor because there were. 
     
    
   
   
    
     not enough Advisors to go 
     
     around, however we were 
     
     able to accommodate ap-. 
     
     proximately 400 Freshmen. 
     
     Many of the faculty I 
     
     knew before but the group 
     
     of Student Advisors were 
     
     mostly new names to me. 
     
     I must commend them on 
     
     their interest and de- ‘ 
     
     sire to be of help, and 
     
     the enthusiasm with 
     
     which pursued and have 
     
    
   
   
    
     [followed through in con- 
     
    
   
   
    
     tacting their Advisees. 
     
     i think we are very for- 
     
     tunate to have such a 
     
     dedicated and committed 
     
     group as we have in the 
     
     Faculty and Student Ad- 
     
     visors. i 
     
    

    
     A note to the Freshmen 
     
     -- you do not have to 
     
     have a problem to see 
     
     your Faculty or Student 
     
     Advisor. They are there 
     
    
   
   
    
     as good friends. infor- 
     
    
   
   
    
     mation resources, and generally. 
     
    
   
   
    
     some one who is concerned a- 
     
     bout,you as a person. If your 
     
     Faculty or Student Advisor 
     
     haven't yet sought you out, 
     
     please make yourself known to 
     
     them. " 
     
    
   
   
    
     Marion Basha 
     
     Chairman of Faculty/Student 
     
     Advisor Committee 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The editorial staff of the 
     
     [PE] SUN would like to an- 
     
     nounce our new format. Every 
     
     page except the front page 
     
     (the one with the photograph) 
     
     will be upside down. This is to 
     
    
   
   
    
     give us two front pages: one 
     
    
   
   
    
     with the picture and the other 
     
     with news. To read it, just flip 
     
     the paper over after looking at 
     
     the photo.