Letter to the Editor: Shouldn’t our children be protected from strangers spreading religious propaganda?
There were several things I found immoral about this, but I will stick to one basic point. I found it abhorrent for old men to solicit unsupervised children as they leave their school. “Stranger Danger”, anyone? It’s just creepy, regardless of what is being handed out.
Our children are taught to respect their elders, and to be polite. What is a kid supposed to do when a seemingly harmless old man hands them something from a box? Are they to be respectful and take whatever it is graciously? Are they supposed to go against the crowd and say, “My mom told me not to take anything from a stranger.”? What if what was being handed to them was dangerous or depicted violent images that as parents we would want our kids protected from?
All of these questions ran through my mind as I drove home. I decided to call the school to see if they were aware of what was going on in their back yard. The secretary who answered stated they knew, but could do nothing about it because they were on a public sidewalk just passed the school’s property line. They had assigned the school resource officer to make sure the kids stayed safe around the traffic jam this group had created, but other than that their hands were tied because of the group’s freedom of speech rights.
Freedom of speech is the political right to communicate one’s opinions and ideas using one’s body and property to anyone who is willing to receive them. My question for you is this: Is a child who is unsupervised able to make the distinction between being a willing participant and peer pressure-fueled guilt, especially in the presence of grey-haired and professionally dressed men right outside of their school?
Would YOU feel comfortable with people you don’t know giving your child their propaganda without your knowledge? I sure don’t. I would like to see an ordinance in place which states unsupervised children cannot be subjected to any stranger’s agenda; political, religious or otherwise, without their parents’ consent. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
Ashley Zellner
St. George, UT
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