TNT letters: An ‘appalling’ comic; trust in teachers; controversial warehouse project
Let teachers teach
Re: “Letters to the editor” (TNT, 04/17/2022)
A recent letter to the editor decried the ‘Woke Path’ that public schools are on, implored them to return to core subjects and leave out things like “gender, critical race theory and other political agendas.” The writer of the letter promised to vote no on reasonable levies for their local school district.
It’s easy to criticize, but understanding is a much more difficult thing. Teaching reading, writing and arithmetic are not the sole job of a teacher, especially elementary school teachers. For many children, school may be their first time in a regular social setting without their parents. “People are different and fallible and that’s OK” is as important to teach as basic math or proper usage of adverbs.
The state demands that teachers teach to standardized tests. Parents may make unreasonable demands related to political buzzwords. School boards may ban books because they have a few “harmful” words or a LBTQ+ character. Teachers are being metaphorically drawn and quartered.
Teachers went to school for years learning how a child’s mind develops and learns. Trust them to help their students be better people. Let them do their job and don’t jeopardize the quality of education by withholding funds.
Kyle A. Palmer, Milton
Appalling cartoon
You need to monitor the content of your comics page. On Friday, April 15, 2022, you printed a “cartoon” that was appalling — it portrayed a woman dropping a cat into a document shredder!
This grotesque image portrayed no humor — only potential cruelty. What kind of image is this to display to children? It should have been blanked out, not have been endorsed by appearance in a metropolitan publication.
Discontinue printing John McPherson’s “Close to Home” submissions.
Grace T. Eubanks, University Place
Warehouse air quality
Re: “Controversial South Tacoma warehouse project to get public airing at Thursday meeting” (TNT, 04/15/2022)
The proposed Bridge Industrial warehouse project in South Tacoma is in an area that has been identified as having poor air quality, exceeding standards set by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. The proposed project would generate an estimated 5,000 more vehicle trips per weekday, about 1,400 being delivery trucks running 24/7.
Putting the key words “children’s health,” and “ air quality” into Google Scholar finds 239,000 entries. This data set has been developed over a 20-plus year period. The National Institutes of Health has had a long-term children’s health, air quality study running since at least 2004.
Impaired air quality affects prenatal development and impairs the mental and physical health of children. It causes both acute and chronic health conditions in the entire public but, as might be expected, more so in less economically advantaged communities. The poorer the air quality the greater the effects. The effects of pollutants emitted by diesel engines are not limited to childhood; they also contribute to COPD and lung cancer in adults.
It should be apparent to a city that endured decades of negative impacts due to air emissions from the Asarco smelter and pulp production that clean air is important to public health, and in the public interest.
Joseph E. Tieger, Tacoma