Unfettered Letters

Stopping the violence

I have read with great interest your feature articles on the violence in Kansas City’s 64130 ZIP code. As I read the article “Working toward a solution” (1/27, A-1), it occurred to me that the prescription for healing in Kansas City is the same prescription needed in troubled areas in the world, including Gaza:

Give our children a strong education.

Encourage commerce and jobs.

Teach people to value life.

Reach the at-risk youths and teach them love, not hate.

These are just a few of the solutions offered by The Star’s article. I, for one, plan to help Kansas City and any other troubled area to the best of my ability.

Dan Kass
Leawood

Protect children from violence

It sickens me that in the midst of winter holidays, we are reading about a 3-year-old boy beaten to death, and his mother’s boyfriend has been charged with the crime (12/30, Local, “Charges in boy’s death; Cass County prosecutor says Javier R. Barker caused 3-year-old Dillon Bahorski’s death by hitting, kicking him”).

I am registered nurse and hold a degree in sociology. However, I’m at a loss as to why these horrible crimes continue in America. It’s hard to believe this child’s mother had no clue her boyfriend might be violent or that she had no one else to watch her children. If she had no options, our government is tragically failing the millions of children being raised by single parents.

We spend so much time, money and energy trying to correct “wrongs” in other countries. Maybe it’s time for us to look in our own backyard. We have “Amber” alerts. How about “Dillon” alerts? Maybe we could have saved this little boy.

Deborah McCrady
Warrensburg, Mo.

Two tragedies in Smith murder

Kathy Reinhardt (8/2, Letters), calls Kelsey Smith’s killer, Edwin Hall, a “monster.”

Yes, Smith’s murder was a monstrous act, and Hall belongs behind bars. However, I want to question the label “monster.” Was Hall born a monster or a child of God? Hall was adopted at age 7 by a loving family. Eight years later, Hall’s adoptive parents severed their relationship with him because he was violent.

That small bit of information makes me ask: Prior to age 7, what were Hall’s life experiences? Was he abused, neglected or abandoned? Did he get lost in the welfare or foster care systems? Did he, in the first year of life, receive the loving, consistent care that lets a baby know he is safe, building the foundation for later development of a moral conscience? Did Hall’s family receive the community support that raising such a disturbed child requires?

Kelsey Smith’s murder is an unspeakable tragedy. It appears to me that Hall’s life is no less a tragedy, and the grief is no less in the Hall family than it is in the Smith family.

Mary Jo Steger
Leavenworth

Violent act traumatizes kids

Rarely have I been so sickened as I was to read about the Muncie, Ind., man who tried to force his children to stab the family cat and, when that failed, strangled the cat himself (8/2, A-3, “Guilty plea in cat killing”).

Even more horrendous than the act of animal cruelty is what he has done to those children. He could face 18 months in prison for killing the cat. Not nearly long enough, in my opinion. For the indescribable emotional pain he inflicted on a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old, he should be sentenced to life.

Nothing in the article mentioned where the children’s mother was or what she may do for these kids in terms of counseling. I only hope and pray that someone responsible takes good care of their needs, as they’re going to need help getting over this awful incident or be traumatized the rest of their lives.

Cynthia Cassel
Overland Park

Fighting ‘domestic violence’

It has happened again. Jana Mackey, 25, died at the hands of a former boyfriend (7/5, Local, “Lawrence man charged in murder”). Ironically and tragically, Jana was an advocate in the oh-so-long campaign against what is euphemistically called “domestic violence.”

Some women think they are immune, that they can fight off an attacker, but the facts say the reverse. After a victim has taken the incredibly courageous step to move away from the perpetrator, she is in even more danger of harm.

In the name of those who have died, in the name of our daughters for whom we have hope and concern, let us speak out against family violence in whatever way is available to us. There are no family secrets in a just society.

The Rev. Mary Latela
Amnesty International USA
Blue Springs

Curfew would prevent violence

It seems there are many disturbances lately that spring from unorganized late-night gatherings involving large groups of youths. Sometimes these gatherings result in people being shot or assaulted.

I refer to the July 14 incident in the IHOP parking lot in Grandview at 1:15 a.m., where four young men were shot (7/15, Local, “Four injured in Grandview shooting”). At what point does an informal meeting of 150 or more kids in a parking lot go from being a “gathering” to being a mob? Isn’t this a clear case for a well-enforced curfew?

Art Richards
Lee’s Summit

What a man wants

I read with interest Kathleen Parker’s column on domestic violence (6/30, Opinion). I believe that most violence is born of frustration, caused by lack of understanding between the sexes.

The most important thing that I ever learned about relationships is that, given a problem, a man wants to do something about it and a woman wants to talk about it. If I had known this fact of life years ago, I probably would not be divorced.

Much violence could be avoided if women would follow the teachings of Dr. Laura Schlessinger in her book The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. It shows women how they can have much more control over their lives and happiness.

Men are simple creatures who don’t understand the complex female, but respond well to a beer and some affection.

Bill Moses
Liberty

Trouble in Zimbabwe

I am troubled by the events in Zimbabwe (6/23, A-6, “Mugabe’s rival bows out; The opposition leader cites a desire to halt bloodshed as a reason for decision”). Robert Mugabe has been an undemocratic leader for most of his 28 years in power, though the U.S. has not assailed him until recently. What Americans fail to realize is that the “corporatocracy” promulgated by Washington is instigating the very same human rights abuses as in Zimbabwe around the world.

I urge people to learn from unbiased, independent organizations what the aim is of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy and other agencies that purportedly do one thing but actually spread hegemony and unsustainable empire.

We must stand for justice, not mob-like criminality. The one thing the mafia had that the U.S. does not possess is efficiency. Thank God our Founding Fathers and subsequent leaders were smart enough to build in bureaucracy.

David Davis
Overland Park

Helping prevent school shootings

While new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a drop in some risky behaviors among teens (6/5, A-7, “Risky teen behaviors near record lows, CDC says”), high school students continue to engage in dangerous behavior when it comes to weapons. More than a million high school students still carry weapons to school at least once a month, and 8 percent of students are threatened or injured with a weapon on school property each year.

New research has also been released about students’ willingness to report threats of school shootings. In 81 percent of school shootings, the attackers tell other people about their plans beforehand. Whether those students tell school authorities what they know depends in part on each student’s relationship to the school and faculty.

Both sets of findings underscore the importance of 1-866-SPEAK-UP, a nonprofit hotline for students to report threats anonymously. Since 2002, the hotline has received 25,000 calls. While creating a school climate of trust is essential over the long term, the hotline can play an immediate role in allowing students to take a responsible, rather than risky, course of action and potentially save lives doing it.

Daniel Gross
Co-founder and CEO, PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence
New York

‘Human cockfighting’

Cockfighting is a banned sport. Dog fighting is a banned sport. Yet, for humans, the smarter species, human cockfighting is OK? (6/1, A-1, “.‘In the ring, I’m somebody’; Mixed martial arts, once likened to ‘human cockfighting,’ has evolved, promoters say”)

Movies with sex and violence have R ratings to prevent children from watching. Yet to think that a parent would allow his or her child to watch or participate in this sport in any way is unimaginable. Where have we gone as a society to think this behavior is OK?

“In the ring, I’m somebody” makes you a nobody who can hit someone. If you want to be “somebody,” might I suggest you volunteer at a food bank, go on a mission trip with a local church, feed the hungry, help fix someone’s home in need of repair, be a big brother to a fatherless child, assist the elderly, visit a cancer ward or do something for someone less fortunate than you. That makes you somebody.

Kristy Hobbs
Trimble, Mo.

Mike Parker “doesn’t hate” the man whose face he is now beating. This front-page article about mixed martial arts was highlighted by brutal imagery in the ring.

Only a few inches away is the beautiful face of murder victim Kelsey Smith. “A year after she was murdered, her friends act on her parents’ advice of moving on and living strong.”

This tribute is marred by the questionable juxtaposition. What on earth were the editors thinking?

C.A. Phillips
Merriam