Take action on bullies
Imagine your kids or grandkids getting bullied and not speaking up. Anti-bullying is strongly enforced in schools, but it never seems like anything is ever done about it. Although bullying is a serious concern in schools, I think more can be done.
The school I attended didn't have counseling and things other schools had. While it enforced the bullying policy, it really didn't take it seriously for me. I thought it would have helped the people that come forward who said people would be talking about them and things like that. For example, my ninth-grade classmate was bullied. She was teased about how she looked and how she was dressed. She would hide in the bathroom and skip class and cry. One day I think she had enough when she went in the bathroom and never came back out. A girl found her on the bathroom floor after she tried to kill herself by taking multiple pills.
We all knew about her situation, but nobody said anything. Thank God she's alive and well today.
For things to change, we must wake up. Get involved. Kids need to communicate with parents more. The school principal and teachers should take matters in their hands very seriously. They should not just say, "Oh, well, I'm taking your recess away." The parents should immediately be notified and then they should take some action if nothing is done.
CHELSEA HOLIDAY
Little Rock
Amendment outdated
Dec. 15, 1791: That's the date the Second Amendment became law. George Washington was serving his first term as America's first president. At that specific moment in history, the Kentucky long rifle was about the most sophisticated "firing" weapon available for military or hunting purposes. How many of you knew that?
The Second Amendment was a time-sensitive, historically provoked amendment enacted just 15 years after our country confronted a British army whose goal was to use deadly force to kill our fragile, young democratic experiment. In 1791, the Second Amendment was critically important. It was timely, relevant and essential to this country's survival.
That was 227 years ago.
I believe the exigent circumstances that provoked the writing and adoption of the Second Amendment are the only circumstances that explain and justify why we have the Second Amendment in the first place. Times have changed. Circumstances have changed. Justification and any reasonable defense for our Second Amendment became outdated a long time ago along with the Kentucky long rifle. It's obvious the Second Amendment was written and adopted to support one's right of self-defense within the historical context of one's right to resist oppression.
(For the record: My wife and I own handguns [no long rifles] and we have carry permits. We are not NRA members and never will be for a multitude of reasons, all of which are best articulated by the new, young advocates for gun control rising like a tsunami nationwide following the Parkland, Fla., massacre.)
Unchecked and unmodernized, the existence of the Second Amendment at this moment in history is tantamount to bestowing upon all Americans the right of insurrection, anarchy and mass murder.
HARRY HERGET
Little Rock
Somebody's a winner
OK, who had Rex Tillerson and March 13 in the pool?
COREY DALE
Rudy
Where's water gone?
I have long been concerned about the environment, but the reduction of water I'm witnessing in my own state has weighed heavily on my heart for the last year. I'm from southwest Arkansas, and during a recent trip home I noticed two bodies of water that had severely dried up: Lake Columbia in Columbia County and the Red River in Hempstead County near Fulton. I presently live in central Arkansas and daily drive over the Arkansas River that connects west Little Rock to Maumelle. A land mass has been growing in the river over the past year. It is now so large that birds nest on it, which is very alarming to me.
I listen to local and state news throughout the weekday and have never heard the reduction of water in our state mentioned. I simply want to know the status of our state's water supply. Should we be alarmed? Presently, several places throughout the world are experiencing droughts and having to come up with conservation methods (i.e., California and Cape Town, South Africa). Is this where our state is headed? If so, should citizens be notified now and actions taken to reduce our consumption?
One thing I've learned about humans is that they often do not address an issue until it's too late. I hope we do not do the same.
LaTASHA MOORE
North Little Rock
Discuss real problem
Another school shooting. Another "now is not the time to talk about it," or ever. No one wants to talk about what I believe to be the real problem, the NRA. The National Rifle Association has sold its soul for power and money. It has no conscience. Sadly, it seems the Republican Party is controlled by the NRA and refuses to stand up to the gun lobby. You will never hear a Republican congressman even mention the words gun control.
The only way we the people can change this connection is by voting the Republicans out of office and saying no to the NRA. Maybe then we can pass some common-sense laws and get the assault rifles off the market.
I can hear the excuses flying now, "they are going to take my guns," etc., etc. You have to make a tough decision. Are you going to vote against the NRA and try to help eliminate school shootings, or continue to send the same people to Washington and almost guarantee we will have more school shootings?
JOHN JEFFERIES
Little Rock
Editorial on 03/14/2018