http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/050803/Opinion/ST005.shtml

PUBLISHED THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Protect children

After reading the News Journal for over two years now and seeing what is happening in Florida and closer to home, Pensacola, I fear for our children. Many sit back and read the news or see it on TV and hear horror stories about a child who has committed a crime. We think to ourselves, this wouldn't happen to me. I can't help but wonder if Derek and Alex King's mom or Daniel Carter's mom said the same thing.

Who would have thought that a child would be arrested and charged as an adult?

Daniel Carter, for example, was defending himself against his uncle, a man who was a black belt in the martial arts, drunk, on steroids and valium. He had a violent temper. When he threatened bodily harm on this 15-year-old boy and came at the boy in a rage, the boy protected himself the best he could. Would it have been better if the uncle had killed this young child, who has yet to live his life or the child protect himself against bodily harm?

We need to change these laws
that are destroying our children. Will our children learn to be model citizens in an adult prison? Will our children keep their innocence in an adult prison? The answer to those questions is "no." Can they be treated as children in juvenile detention? Can they continue their education? Can they be rehabilitated? Yes.

Please help protect our children and their future. - Katy Porter, Pensacola

Irresponsible speech

The example of free speech Teresa Beck gave is a poor choice ("All free speech," Letters, April 30). She states that she is tired of hearing that people who believe living a homosexual lifestyle is wrong and destructive are intolerant hate-mongers who want to infringe on the rights of others. Does she see them as tolerant and enlightened?

I, too, tire of comments that only perpetuate the myth that homosexuals want "special" rights because of sexual orientation. These "special" rights to which Beck alludes are the same rights that she enjoys today as a U.S. citizen: freedom to marry the person she loves, freedom from fear of job termination due to sexual orientation, the right to receive spousal benefits of military personnel and freedom from discrimination in housing. These are but just a few examples.

It's one thing to have an opinion on a particular subject and enjoy the freedom to express it, but when your opinion involves a class of people and is reached without knowing all of the facts, it is irresponsible at best and inflammatory at worst. It's akin to yelling "fire!" in a crowded theatre when there is no fire - people are more than likely going to be hurt. - Tom Sadler, Pensacola

Street war

As teenagers grow, parents realize that they cannot keep everything from them. The reality of real life is a very vivid picture in our lives. Adults see the outside war in Iraq while young children and teenagers see a war that has been going on for two score and 10 years. The war on the streets!

Adults see it on the TV but that barely scratches the surface. Ten-year-old boys carry 9mm guns and sell crack for their family. In some neighborhoods selling dope on the corner, looking over your shoulder to see if someone is following you, and sleeping with one eye open with a gun by their side is a way of life.

Juvenile detention centers fill up so fast that the judge sends them to a program just to get rid of them.

For those who want to fight in a war, look around you. There is a war right underneath your nose. Statistics show that one out of every five kids will be in trouble with the law before they even start to live.

Volunteer and help a kid get off the streets. Help win our war. - Krysteen Ellis, Milton

A different view

Bob Browning's letter of April 27 ("Good eyesight") states that his eyesight is good enough to see both sides. I beg to differ with him.

In regards to Israeli occupation of the disputed settlements, Jews have lived in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since ancient times. The only time Jews have been prohibited from living in the territories in recent decades was during Jordan's rule from 1948 to 1967. This prohibition was contrary to the mandate for Palestine adopted by the League of Nations, which provided for the establishment of a Jewish state.

According to Eugene Rostow, a former under-secretary of state for political affairs in the Johnson administration, Resolution 242 gives Israel a legal right to the West Bank. The resolution allows Israel to administer the territories it won in 1967 "until a just and lasting peace in the Middle East."

Bob Browning has the inexcusable audacity to state "the Palestinians are sodesperate they are willing to sacrifice their lives." He fails to mention that this so-called sacrifice is nothing more than homicide bombing against innocent men, women and children. - Richard P. Bachman, Gulf Breeze

Special thanks

On behalf of the mental health community and the people and families we represent, I want to thank Sen. Durell Peaden for his leadership in defeating the state Medicaid agency's attempt to cut costs by forcing people with serious mental illnesses to fail on a cheaper medication before gaining access to the one their doctor determines would be most effective.

Advances in medications and treatments over the last decade have significantly improved the chance for recovery for the thousands of Floridians who suffer from serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. If the agency's proposed "fail- first" policy had been adopted, that hope for continued recovery and stabilization would have been seriously jeopardized.

Sen. Peaden and his Senate colleagues deserve special thanks for spear-heading opposition to this ill-fated policy. Because of their leadership, people with mental illnesses will continue to have unrestricted access to the most effective mental health medications. - Lynne M. Hernandez, Executive director, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Florida