Let's stop domino effect of bullying
Teddy bears and flowers that were left outside Perry High School on Friday after a shooting at the Iowa school. Credit: AP/Charlie Neibergall
Let’s stop domino effect of bullying
As we have just seen in Iowa and in so many other places since the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, a young person’s anguish over being bullied can end in tragic but possibly avoidable situations [“Teen kills 1 at Iowa school,” News, Jan. 5].
Research has shown that bullying is extremely common with one in five high school students bullied on school grounds, and one in six are victims of cyberbullying, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
School shootings and suicides can often be traced back to bullying. One study showed that school-age adolescents who are bullied are three times more likely to have access to a loaded gun. This domino effect is alarming.
One experience in a child’s life could easily tumble into the next more serious phase, and not addressing situations early on in families and school districts can set a chain of events in motion that become hard to stop.
Victims of bullying experience serious, lasting effects on their mental health and overall well-being, including depression, isolation, anxiety, substance abuse, poor school performance and/or school refusal.
In the worst-case scenario, you end up with a Columbine or Perry, Iowa situation, where anger and frustration turn inward and/or externally, resulting in suicidal or homicidal thoughts. Pair those thoughts with access to lethal means and tragedy occurs.
Parents and school officials need to interrupt this chain of events before they lead to tragedy by proactively intervening to prevent the dominoes from falling.
— Karen Boorshtein, Bay Shore
The writer is president and CEO of the Family Service League.
We need stricter gun control laws. Our country is being ripped apart by heinous acts of violence.
A stunning 56% of Americans want more rules and regulations when it comes to guns. While they do not want a handgun ban, they do prefer our country to have a more rigorous process to obtain a gun.
Many believe that guns make homes more dangerous. As someone who lives in a community that at times can be dangerous, guns are something we all think about and are prepared to deal with. We have drills in school and are on high alert for potential acts of violence.
We need to support legislation that aims to increase the age limit to purchase firearms and prevent gun trafficking, modernize the prohibition on untraceable firearms, and encourage the safe storage of firearms. If we do nothing, the consequences will be disastrous.
— Merari Castro, Freeport
Mail-in voting is an American freedom
The 2024 presidential election promises to be crazier than ever, with our freedoms to address pregnancy and whom we love and — most disturbing — our ability to vote at stake [“Election system needs stability,” Editorial, Jan. 7].
It’s encouraging that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the New York Early Mail Voter Act, which allows no-excuse absentee voting by mail. The new law ensures that the voices of older folks, shift workers, traveling retirees, busy parents and others who can’t get to the polls are heard.
New York Senate Republicans, though, are trying to undo it. It wasn’t long ago that most of New York’s Democratic and Republican legislators supported mail-in voting for any reason.
How does one explain that voters in 29 states and the District of Columbia, even in many Republican strongholds such as Iowa, Montana and Florida, already offer no-excuse voting by mail? It’s because providing no-excuse absentee voting isn’t a partisan issue. It’s an American freedom.
— Betsy Craz, East Patchogue
The new voting law will allow all registered voters to cast their ballots early by mail — Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Working Families, etc. The procedure for doing so will be the same as it has been for years for those who were away, ill or during the pandemic. There hasn’t been a problem with it.
Expanding voting access will allow more people to make their voices heard. It’s hard to figure out why Republicans oppose it.
— Darcy Stevens, Bellport
Hannity doesn’t show NY any gratitude
Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, in touting his moving to Florida, trashed New York [“Fox News’ Hannity leaves LI for Florida: ‘I am done,’ ” Flash!, Jan. 3].
He conveniently did not mention that New York helped him gain his career, celebrity, fortune and mansions.
It would have been nice if he thanked New York for so much that he now enjoys in life.
— Stephen Kargman, Levittown
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