Youth diversion makes senseThe reader who wrote the letter titled “The wrong direction,” published on April 29, seems to assume that all “disadvantaged youth” whose misbehavior in a classroom might result in being suspended from school or arrested are potential mass murderers, but that argument is based on faulty logic and false information. He claims that the killing of 17 people at a Parkland high school in February is an example of what happens when criminal behavior by students is ignored, and asserts that school and law enforcement officials in Broward County have “blood on their hands” because they followed policies designed to reduce the number of suspensions and arrests and close the “school-to-prison pipeline.”(READ: Officials support civil sanctions for Volusia youths)
Nikolas Cruz, the individual who carried out the massacre at the school, was not a student there; he had been expelled. He is not a “disadvantaged youth;” he is 19 years old and white. His behavior was not ignored; he had come to the attention of law enforcement, including the FBI, many times, as well as the Florida Department of Children and Families and the mental health system. All agreed that he was a severely disturbed young man who needed mental health treatment. However, there was no legal mechanism to confine him or to confiscate his guns.
The proposals proposed by F.A.I.T.H. are intended to help children in Volusia County schools, including elementary schools, who are at risk of being suspended or arrested because of minor and nonviolent offenses. The children who are diverted from the school-to-prison pipeline will not be ignored; they will be monitored and will be expected to make restitution. These children will be less likely, not more likely, to be involved in further disruptive behavior or criminal activity. Turning their lives in a positive direction will make our schools and our communities safer.
Ellen Nielsen, Ormond Beach
No to hate
Every day I get to watch hate. People rushing to the border to scream at and deny help to desperate masses of humans, begging for refuge. The faces of hungry children, the sick, the homeless, and those without hope.
How can we call ourselves good people if we turn our backs on humans in need?
How can we watch as people slaughter animals into extinction?
How do we rationalize polluting our soil, water and air to make billionaires even richer?
We can’t. No religious text states we shouldn’t help those in need.
Jesus said, “Care for the poor.” The Hindu god Vishnu and the Muslim Prophet Muhammad did the same. The Buddhist belief in bodhicitta teaches empathy and compassion. The Jewish law of Tzedakah demands charity for the poor. Even atheists had great men like Andrew Carnegie who cared about the poor and the environment.
How can we do less?
The constant drums of hate can dull our instinct to help. We turn on the television and hear pundits saying there is no money for the poor, hungry or sick — but we must give even more tax cuts to the rich.
What does it say about us, when we vote for and then defend a man who espouses hate, greed and fear? When we applaud pollution of our planet to make a CEO richer? When we hear the greed of weapons manufacturers over the cries of our slain children?
What more are we willing to sacrifice in the name of greed, hate, fear and false patriotism?
Roger Leman, New Smyrna Beach