Denigrating immigrants can be damaging

Decrying migrants can be damaging

For over 10 years, I worked side-by-side with a legislator of Haitian descent to improve lives of Suffolk County minorities. We helped homeowners needing tax relief and worked on improving schools, day care, clean water access, voter registration and so on. The Suffolk County legislator was Elie Mystal Sr.

Mystal emigrated from Haiti, educated himself and went on to change countless lives. During our slogs through the morass of Suffolk politics, we spent thousands of hours discussing Haiti, its people and culture. And he would share these experiences with many to highlight the struggles elsewhere and the wrong turns that could result in catastrophe.

Recent remarks about the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, remind me that there is much to be done to alleviate the stigma that the rich and powerful will impose upon others to meet their own needs [“LI Haitians: Trump remark ‘hurtful,’  ” News, Sept. 13]. Politicians need to consider the potential damage they are doing to a community and its children, its new legally immigrated population and their elderly.

Many Haitians are doctors, government workers, merchants and laborers. Their families have fled violence, murder, torture, rape and other atrocities in their former homeland.

We shouldn’t denigrate any immigrants, regardless of their legal status.

 — Christopher Wittneben, West Sayville

Don’t tell about school armed guard

I found the article on using armed guards in the East Quogue School District disturbing [“Switching to armed guards,” Long Island, Sept. 12]. Having been hired to provide security at several school districts in Suffolk County, I was armed, and no one was aware.

A school district announcing to the public that only one guard is armed is looking for trouble. What happens if there is an incident and the armed guard is shot or, worse, killed. Does the school district expect an unarmed guard to stop a person with a firearm? They should rethink this plan just in case something does happen.

 — James McNevin, East Quogue

The writer is a retired Suffolk County Police detective.

We see yet another school shooting, this time in Georgia [“Worries rekindled for parents,” News, Sept. 6]. We arrest a parent. It makes us feel better but keeps us from looking more closely at the problem.

It’s mind-numbing how often this occurs. I wonder if it diminishes our sense of outrage. The United States has had hundreds of school shootings over the past 15 years. No other country comes remotely close.

Imagine a parent putting a 7-year-old daughter on the school bus, toting her Taylor Swift backpack. Then the parent hears news on the radio. Or the phone rings.

We all hope it’s not us, but it’s real for someone.

Enough already. Enough of “our hearts go out . . .” Enough “thoughts and prayers.” They are just words.

We need to end or at least find a way to severely curtail what is happening. We need to get mad as hell. As a country, we can control some of this narrative, and it’s well past time we do so. We owe it to our children.

— Mark Serri, Medford

A time and place for school cellphones

School can be better without cellphones, but I feel that at times they are necessary for high school students [“Ban phones in school except during lunch,” Letters, Sept. 3].

As a senior at Harborfields High School, where cellphones are restricted all day except at lunch, I find this problematic in study halls and the library.

Listening to music, while being respectful of those around me, can be a great tool for productivity when studying and relaxing during a stressful day in school.

Although cellphones have been linked to damage to children’s mental health, they can help me de-stress when used appropriately. Schools should work on expanding available resources for mental health instead of trying to remove a small factor that might play a role in damaging it.

Cellphones aren’t the only things contributing to bad mental health, so they shouldn’t be treated as if they are.

 — Hartley Semmes, Centerport

Why pay more to see some NFL TV games?

NFL teams pay several quarterbacks more than $50 million a year [“Dak gets paid; Dallas drubs Brown, Watson,” Sports, Sept. 9]. That’s ridiculous. How can they pay them that much? Oh, they moved many of the free games to cable TV networks that require payment from viewers. And many people pay to see them. When will we realize that the NFL will keep putting more games on pay-TV?

Fans should boycott pay-TV and say, “We won’t take it anymore!”

 — Jeff Ward, Medford