‘Snowflake’ comment shows lack of compassion

In a May 17 letter to the editor, a reader decries prepaid postage and students’ need for “cry rooms” to their perceived problems in life resulting from propaganda and a liberal “snowflake mentality.” In the letter writer’s derisive comments, we see his lack of compassion for our students and his disregard for our democracy.

Having prepaid ballot postage statewide benefits both parties equally; it does not suppress the vote to benefit one political party over another. Viewing voting as our most important right as American citizens and tagging it as “snowflake mentality,” undermines the importance of voting in a democracy.

What is even more appalling is the letter writer’s complete lack of compassion for our young students living in the chaos of today’s world. When he attended school, did he have to do active shooter drills? Did he have to worry about an armed fellow student charging into his classroom murdering his fellow students as they lie in a pool of blood or remain severely disabled for a lifetime? There were no active shooter drills in the ’60s and ’70s; neither did our children in the ’80s and ’90s. Allowing the military assault rifle ban to expire in 2004 has increased the number of school shootings. Our country’s failure to address gun violence and to prevent the murders of our youth — and they are preventable — is reprehensible. To equate mass murders in elementary schools, middle school, high schools, or college with “bullying” demonstrates that the letter writer really does suffer from “snowflake mentality” and also has been propagandized by the NRA.

In the wake of the Parkland, Florida shooting, our young students proved to be the adults in our country. They are leading the way. Necessary emotional services are needed now more than ever in our schools and in our society. Instead of spending our meager resources on real education, we are spending it on “hardening” our schools in ways that are not preventing these mass killings.

Mr. Snowflake Mentality please stop propagandizing America. Your attitude is one of the reasons why these problems persist in society.

Glenda Tecklenburg

Mill Creek

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