Back to school and deer hunting

School adventures begin anew on LI

Although I am a retired 20-year New York City schoolteacher, the start of new school years always brings back enthusiastic recollections [“ ‘Stability’ is the hope for new school year,” News, Aug. 29]. That first day, the kids with their simultaneous excitement and trepidation annually heralded a fresh start and the hope for a productive year ahead.

Kids and parents today look forward to this school year with cautious optimism. Yes, there are viruses, security issues, red/blue politics, culture factors and climate changes. The war in Ukraine and famine in Africa and elsewhere present worrisome headlines. The positives of newness can greatly offset the negatives of news.

Back-to-school time in the mid-1950s was far less stressful. All we had to worry about was nuclear annihilation, so we did frequent duck-and-cover shelter drills. Our bigger and happier concern was the World Series, especially when the city teams were playing. Are kids cheerfully rooting for the city baseball teams?

All in all, 2022-23 will be quite an adventure. As John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote in 1971: “Let’s hope it’s a good one. Without any fear.”

— Michael I. Kaplow, Huntington

Deer aren’t the problem — we are

Assemb. Jodi Giglio (R-Riverhead) proposed legislation to kill more deer in a reduction program [“Deer-hunting bill introduced,” News, Aug. 11]. There is no reason to kill more deer in Suffolk County.

I have lived in Riverhead for 14 years and enjoy seeing the deer in my backyard with their fawns. Deer are not the problem. We are.

We have invaded their area with homes and shopping centers and taken away much of their ability to drink water and eat. Now you want to kill them.

Why? Because they may eat your prized rose bushes or search for a place to bed down in the stifling heat? They bother no one. They are not predators and are beautiful animals.

When will we learn that they have a right to be here?

— Carolyn Newson, Riverhead