Letters on prosecuting teachers, Sanders, Clinton
Can’t teach if afraid of being prosecuted
The Legislature has repeatedly tried to reduce the rights and influence of teachers in the classroom. Now comes a proposal to remove protections from teachers if they present material in the classroom perceived as harmful to minors (Feb. 3 Eagle).
What is harmful material? I am a “reasonable person,” but my definition of what is harmful may differ widely from what the next “reasonable person” thinks.
The proposed legislation is closed-minded censorship. A teacher cannot teach if she has to worry that every idea can send her to jail.
The censorship that is now so widespread in education represents a systemic breakdown of our ability to educate the members of the next generation and to transmit to them a full and open range of ideas about important issues in the world. By avoiding controversy, we teach children to avoid dealing with reality.
Our schools are filled with kids who have been treated badly all their lives. At least in literature and art, they can meet others like them and learn ways to handle their problems. But with the proposed legislation, teachers may not be able to let them read about the very lives they live.
Mark Twain is credited with saying that censorship is telling a man he can’t have steak because a baby can’t chew it. Teachers are fully aware of developmentally appropriate practice. They are highly invested in the children they teach, and they also know that the best teachers open minds, not close them.
Mary Schumacher, Wichita
Ignorant of Sanders
It’s impossible to read opinion articles or view social media without snide remarks about Bernie Sanders being some Santa Claus who is exciting narcissistic millennials with “free stuff.” I’m not sure if these critics are naive or willfully ignorant of Sanders’ progressive policies.
One of Sanders’ major platforms is ending the era of “free stuff” going to powerful corporate interests. He talks about the largest companies in America getting hefty tax breaks from the government while they refuse to pay their workers a living wage.
Sanders asserts that we should “get Wal-Mart off welfare.” So before you dismiss millennials who support his presidential campaign, take a look at the whiny, greedy corporations that think they are entitled to run the American government.
Reece Rogers, Bel Aire
Can make history
I am a nearly 80-year-old feminist. Whether some feminist leaders of my era are correct about why some young women are voting for Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton, I can’t say (“Feminists scold young women backing Sanders,” Feb. 8 Eagle). I do suspect, however, women of today’s generation have not learned that crippling discrimination was prevalent before they were born and that the freedoms they now experience were hard-fought. Sustaining them continues to require our support.
Examples of discrimination include women not receiving equal pay while doing the same job as men. Crime against women, especially rape and domestic abuse, is rampant. And women are not proportionally represented in any level of government. We are simply not yet truly equal.
Once a woman is elected president, sexism and its insidious negative impact on women will not end. Racism didn’t with the election of Barack Obama. However, having girls see a woman president would have a tremendous impact on their realization of what is possible.
It is important in a democracy that men and women – black, white and brown – have a say in how we are governed. As it is now, older white men (including Sanders) have the vast majority say in how government affects everyone’s lives, male and female.
Young women should consider that fact. It doesn’t benefit just our gender, either. Anytime we take a step toward equality, we all benefit.
That is not, however, the only reason I support Clinton. As a Democrat, I will vote for one or the other. Sanders is fine, but Clinton, perhaps the most-qualified candidate in my adult lifetime, can make history for American women and men.
Myrne Roe, Wichita
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This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Letters on prosecuting teachers, Sanders, Clinton."