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Preventing child abuse
Laura Scott told the story of how Liz Murray overcame amazing obstacles in her young life as a neglected child who saw firsthand the repercussions of parental drug abuse (4/21, Opinion, “Children suffer when parents are addicted”).
April is national Child Abuse Prevention Month, and there is so much each one of us can do, not just during April but throughout the year to prevent abuse, neglect, and family violence.
As a treatment and prevention agency for young victims of abuse in the Kansas City area, The Children’s Place encourages all adults to help stop the epidemic of violence in the lives of young children.
Liz Murray may have lived in the Bronx, but the horrifying circumstances she described translate to our own Kansas City community.
Liz had a supportive educator in her life who cared about her and encouraged her. I hope each one of us will refuse to turn a blind eye to child abuse and strive to be the kind of families, friends, teachers and neighbors Laura Scott encourages us to be when it comes to making sure children who have suffered abuse, neglect or trauma in their lives get the help they need.
Debby Howland
Advocacy coordinator, The Children’s Place
Jefferson City
Why is Hillary ‘scary’?Maureen Dowd (4/24, Opinion, “Obama’s dilemma: how to get rid of gonzo woman”) asks (of Obama) “...is he simply scared of Hillary because she’s scary?”
While I believe that to a degree Ms. Dowd is being tongue-in-cheek, I also believe this depiction is not too far from truth for some voters.
My question to those voters would simply be: Why is she so scary? Because she’s supremely confident? Because she’s a “strong woman?” Because she’s ambitious and persistent? Because she’s champing at the bit to get in there and fix it?
By the way, the last time I checked the gender-o-meter, ambition and persistence in a man would be considered strengths of character, not “scary.” If these characteristics scare some people, then I say, “Scare on, Hillary.”
What scares me more is a candidate who dazzles us with feel-good rhetoric in a campaign that bets on our overall propensity to behave as lemmings.
Amy Bush
Spring Hill
Regarding garbageWhile out walking recently, I noticed my neighbors’ garbage cans overflowing with recyclables: newspapers, milk jugs and soda cans.
Where do people think these things go? Does the trash fairy wave her magic wand and poof, the smelly trash is gone? Or maybe people don’t understand that these materials go to a landfill where they disintegrate over thousands of years.
Even as a busy mother, I find time to recycle, take reusable bags shopping and turn off my tap while I brush my teeth.
I take my mug to Starbucks instead of using their paper cups. I’ve joined a community-supported agriculture group, and I buy local and organic foods. I use environmentally friendly hand soap, detergent, and cleansers.
We have a Brita water pitcher, so we don’t use water bottles. We drink Shatto milk, which is local, and its cows are not given hormones. It comes in glass bottles, so the milk tastes better and we’re not creating waste because I take empty bottles back to the store.
I am going to buy a compost bin for our kitchen refuse such as apple cores, banana peels and coffee grounds.
I think of new uses for old things.
Erin Margolin
Mission Hills
It saddens me that we need prisoners or adopt-a-highway programs to take care of a problem that we as a society have failed to solve ourselves. (4/21, A-1, “Less help from inmates means that trash lingers on roadways.”)
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