Letters

School should be safe

First of all, on the topic of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shooting, my heart is broken. My heart breaks for the families of the victims, the friends of the victims, and the community surrounding this school.

Secondly, I am angry. This is not okay. This. Is. Not. Okay. Parents send their kids to school every single day thinking and trusting that it is a safe place for them to be. Kids go to school every day thinking that it is a safe place to be, a place to learn and to grow.

I am a high school student. We should not have to worry about whether our school will be the next one on the news because of a shooting. This should never be one of our concerns. Yet, for the past few days, this is all we have talked about.

School shootings are one of the many tragic events that, after a few weeks, fade into yesterday's news. Nothing ever really changes. But I am begging my elected officials, do not forget about this. Do not let this fade into the background. Children are being killed in the last place that should be considered dangerous. How many more have to die for this nation to wake up and see the dangers right inside its borders? The families of these victims need more than "thoughts and prayers"; they need action. I am pleading with all of Congress, for the sake of the posterity of this country, do something. Gun control now!

TAYLOR BROWN

Springdale

Capable of the choice

It never fails that every time we have one of these awful mass shootings, some people are always quick to rush the ramparts questioning the need for anyone to own one of these scary-looking semiautomatic "assault" weapons. Mr. Charley Sandage of Mountain View is only the latest of many.

I applaud Mr. Sandage's prowess with his single-shot .22 with which he has recently dispatched one rattlesnake (a protected species, I believe), two armadillos and two groundhogs, and all with only six shots, I believe he said. Great shooting, Mr. Sandage; your eyes are better than mine, I'm sure.

However, I do question Mr. Sandage's need to kill these critters. Could he not have run them off by chucking sticks or stones at them? Or could he not have humanely trapped them and released them into a more appropriate environment? Instead, he chose to kill them; he did not need to kill them, however. By the way, I would have killed them myself also.

The point is that we make individual choices about many matters every day; we have the freedom to do that, thank God. We may choose to drive an eight-cylinder auto instead of a more economical four-cylinder even though we don't need an eight-cylinder, and so on. And yet somehow we muddle through our lives without ever giving serious offense to the public at large or needing anyone telling us what we need or don't need when it comes to scary-looking firearms. Amazing!

I am, and I think many others are, quite capable of determining what I/we need or want or not without anyone else instructing us.

JERRY SLATON

Conway

Old-school physicians

Add another physician to the list of those who are old-school enough to follow up on their patients.

I've had three dermatology surgeries in the past year and, each night, Dr. Matthew Kagy has called to make sure that I am comfortable, and to see if I am in need of anything.

ROBERT B. NELSON

Little Rock

Haunted by questions

I am a new mother, but unlike many new parents, I don't worry about sleep training or car-seat safety. Instead, I worry about my kids dying down the hall from my classroom. I find myself in the unique position of being both a secondary school teacher and a new parent of teens: our adoption of a 13- and 14-year-old finalized last fall.

Following Parkland, I find myself haunted by such questions as: "Would I throw myself in front of a student, knowing it means leaving my own children motherless again?" "What if I didn't?" "Would I expect my colleagues to throw their bodies in front of my children?" "What if they didn't?" "What about survivor's guilt?" "What kind of career field did I enter where this is a real possibility?"

I've been a teacher for over a decade, but I've only been a parent for a few months. As a teacher, I am labeled in loco parentis, meaning that I am to act in good faith as a parent to my students while they are under my care. But what is good faith? Do I let go and let God?

I know I don't want to raise my children in fear. The Jonesboro shooting was 20 years ago next month; what laws do we have in place now to protect our children? What tangible actions will we take to keep our kids safe? I urge lawmakers and private citizens to act in good faith and value our children over guns.

ALICE KUNCE

North Little Rock

Prayers aren't enough

It is imperative that Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman, as well as Rep. Steve Womack, issue a statement to all their constituents explaining their stance against reasonable gun legislation and an assault-weapon ban.

As per the Quinnipiac poll, only 4 percent of Americans support these views. Your constituents, gentlemen, who expect you to support safety legislation in all forms, need to understand why you do not support legislation improving their chances for safety.

Do not tell us about your concern and prayers. Do not use your constant prolific excuses. This is a gun availability issue. Where access to guns is limited, gun deaths decrease.

Children die in schools every day because you are afraid to lose your job. I believe you are cowards and accept blood money.

SUZANNE CHILDERS

Eureka Springs

Editorial on 02/21/2018

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