Silver Dollars & wooden nickels: Mentors deserve silver for all that they do

The Nevada Appeal's "Silver Dollar" and "Wooden Nickel" feature recognizes positive achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out others that missed the mark.

Silver Dollar: To the Mentor Center of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada. All month we've been highlighting the people who take time to make a difference in young lives by mentoring. They're men and women, young and old, retired and working - the one thing that applies to all is their desire to help. When events of the day make us despair for the future of mankind, just reading about some of these wonderful people and the great kids they're paired up with restores hope. If you missed their stories, go to nevadaappeal.com and put "Mentor" in the search field. Reading about them will make you feel warm all over.

Wooden Nickel: To the increasingly difficult task parents face in monitoring what their kids are up to online. The little buggers are mighty good at sneaking around online, often harmlessly, but sometimes getting into situations that are more than they can handle. Such was the case when some local middle-school girls signed up on a Facebook page for "Attack a Teacher Day." Was it intended as a harmless yet meanspirited prank? Probably. Can the administrators take that chance? No way. Their punishment of suspension was appropriate. But the next step might be even more of a deterrent. All teens under age 18 (or as long as they live at home; your house, your money, your rules, remember) should have to give their parents their signon and password to access their Facebook accounts. Knowing that Mom and Dad might be checking in on them should curb some of their more outlandish behavior, and language. Parenting experts are always saying kids want boundaries: Here's your chance to test that theory. Good luck.

Silver Dollar: And finally ... a big silver platter of appreciation for Maizie Harris Jesse and Carolyn Tate, the Nevada Appeal's longtime columnists who retired their "Nobody Asked Us, But ..." column last week. We'll miss their updates on birthdays, events, quips - even the bad jokes readers sent them off the Internet. (Yes, Maizie, we will. Stop snickering.) We hope you are back in good health soon. Our door is always open.