I sent this e-mail today. Perhaps it will even be read. I also courtesy copied the school committee, the mayor, all of the city counselors, Misters Brown, Unger, and Urbon at the Standard Times, and a few others.
"Dear Dr. Durkin,
There exists an opportunity to avoid convincing a potential killer that all people are evil and deserve to be punished.
The case of Eduardo Irizarry caught my attention recently and I immediately thought of all of the missed opportunities involving other young victims of community sanctioned cruelty. Will the criminal who attacked him and broke his jaw suffer the same laughably ineffective punishment as chair throwing Kemar Omar Roselus? Will the victim receive the same message received by countless victims of bullying before him? Will he be blamed for what a violent sociopath chose to do to him and intimidated into staying quiet?
Will Eduardo Irizarry one day be added to the list that includes Timothy McVeigh, Eric Harris, and Adam Lanza because 15 years after Columbine, adults in authority still refuse to pull their heads out of that warm, comforting well of denial and take a good look at what's going on around them?
Keep shining light in dark places.
ReplyDeleteHow close the world came to having a Durkin Donuts on every corner.
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