Dear Editor:
The second ward councilperson recently brought to our attention that she felt her kids are unfairly being brought into what lately has passed for this community’s political discourse. Then she got attacked for bringing up the point.
She is correct. Bringing up people’s kids in these contexts is beyond out of line, it is creepy. Last night (June 16) during the council meeting’s live stream, one of the blogs that allows instant messaging “commentary” had a back and forth discussing how my children get to school and the fact that one of them sells candy to benefit a travelling youth team that has had its funding cut by the city and has to do much aggressive fundraising to compete at a national level.
During a political campaign it is o.k. to malign adults for questioning your candidates’ qualifications and resumes (although simply answering the questions might serve the polity better). The campaign is over and I guess it is still o.k. to continue attacking anyone who disagrees with the administration (although it might be better to simply allow the administration to prove its critics wrong by doing the job of governing) but it is never o.k. to bring up people’s children. With the level of intensity out there and the number of potential mentally disturbed people who act on suggestions they see in public it is dangerous to all the children of our community and it is frightening to parents to know their kids’ daily activities are being watched and reported on the internet.
This is child stalking and it must stop.
Sincerely,
John Keim