Arming teachers not the way
You may agree with arming teachers. You may not. But whether the idea will stop school shootings, or it is just a lame effort by certain politicians to appear to be doing something, it does look good. However, as with any policy, the devil is in the details, the implementation.
If, as has been suggested, we leave it up to each town or each school to decide, we will have a chaotic difference of opinion, and many court cases. Will every small rural school have an armed staff member, and what if no one can be found who wants the job, regardless of an extra $1,000 or so? How will that sum affect school budgets, and will it come from federal, state or local coffers? In an urban school with several thousand students and 50 or 75 classrooms, will a few armed instructors in one part of the building be able to find and reach an assailant — and then will they shoot one another?
No, there are too many uncertain variables to propose that arming teachers is the answer. Only by keeping guns out of schools will our children be safe. The only way to do so is to ensure that nobody can enter a school building with a gun. A video monitoring system connected to the administrative office for admittance would do the trick; every school in the country would have no undesirable visitors. In addition, it would be less expensive in the short and the long term.
Steve Colhoun
Addison
Trump’s war on the poor
America’s “ harvest box” is a terrible idea. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue calls it a “bold, innovative approach to providing nutritious food to people who need assistance feeding themselves and their families.” This is just another “shock and awe” tactical offensive in the administration’s “war on the impoverished” — a far cry from the days of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Society initiatives. And it clearly is an offensive, as a number of administrators of the federal and state food assistance programs affirm that the current models of SNAP and EBT delivery systems not only work well, but are efficient and cost-effective.
This is not a well thought out proposal, and it seems to be ideologically driven. Besides the obvious financial and logistical burdens this proposal will put onto the states, there is the matter of human dignity.
Welfare recipients should be active and engaged citizens. Implementation of America’s harvest box will limit the normality of the shopping experience and restrict basic rights of food choice, directing recipients to passively receive a pre-selected and static food package of processed and canned goods. Also, this method of supplementation does not take the many variables of personal food consumption into account such as individual dietary needs, food allergies and so on.
The food supplement program is not perfect, but it works relatively well and has evolved along with traditional forms of monetary commerce and trade, as it should in an inclusive society.
Brennen Moran
Orono
Change the world
We lead Girl Scout Troop 121 in Bangor. They are first- and second-grade Daisy and Brownie Girl Scouts. We celebrated World Thinking Day on Feb. 22. World Thinking Day is about making changes and thinking hard.
Our scouts want to see some changes in our community:
We want everyone to be safe and have a home and animals to be cared for. — Gabby Matlins
We want to stop pollution. — Reason Eastman
We want ice and slush to be removed and people to help their neighbors clean up snow. — Hannah Matlins
We want trash cans and doggy bags at Second Street Park with signs, and we want people to use them. — Rhiannon St. Thomas
We want people to pick up trash even if it is not theirs. — Eila Hendrix and Claire Michaud
We want good and safe playgrounds in wintertime and summertime. — Alaina Sullivan
We want to change the world in the best ways.
Jennifer L. Eastman
Lucie E. Estabrook
Co-leaders
Girl Scout Troop 121
Bangor
A teachable moment
School administrators who notified students there would be consequences for participating in a walkout last week to promote gun safety missed an important point. A key purpose of education is to prepare students for life as engaged citizens.
Teachers know that there are “teachable moments.” Surely this is one. Students can learn how to research and respectfully advocate for a position on a sensitive issue. They can learn to listen to, learn from and respect others who have a different point of view. They can learn that patience, persistence and compromise are often necessary ingredients for change. These are valuable lessons.
I would understand an administrator objecting to a walkout for a less weighty issue, but trading a modest amount of class time for a real-life lesson in political engagement seems fair. The issue involved is both a constitutional question and a matter of life and death. It is worthy of school time.
One superintendent cited safety concerns for sending students outside at a pre-arranged time, yet she surely sends students out to recess every day. Some were concerned that students who have a different point of view would require equal time for their views. Well, that can be arranged. It is also important to make school a safe place for students who don’t wish to be involved either way. All of this could and should have been done.
Carey Donovan
Bernard
Implement Medicaid expansion
In 2014, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 28, after a three-day diabetic coma that came after being physically ill for a couple of weeks and diagnosed with bronchitis. I ended up spending 18 days in the hospital, which included temporary dialysis from acute kidney failure. I had no prior history of diabetes, and there are no Type 1 diabetics in my family.
If it weren’t for the health insurance that comes with my job, my young family would be close to economic ruin from medical bills. No one should be forced into bankruptcy because they get sick. Everyone deserves access to quality, affordable health care.
That is why I voted for the citizen initiative to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and supported the Feb. 13 health care rally at the State House. Mainers voted overwhelmingly last November to expand Medicaid. It’s time for Maine’s elected leaders to implement Medicaid expansion.
Allison Perkins
Cornville