I was very disturbed to learn about Character First! from a teacher at my small alternative school in Lake Worth, Florida ("The Culture War Continues," Bob Norman, April 15). When she referred me to this article, I was appalled at what our government is intending to take from our nation.
While I'm sure the government means well, implementing a program of this nature in our schools, cities, and country in general takes away everything America has ever stood for. They are opening a door to a society that cannot emotionally support itself. Years of being taught to be submissive to authority figures cannot be healthy. What about people who are inherently strong-willed? Or abusive? Will they be taught to believe that they are the authority, and they are willed by God to act in the way in which they do?
Even if the government isn't wishing to include the religious areas of this program, it was originated by a religious man; people are going to connect the two eventually and again, begin to justify acts of cruelty through God. Teaching respect is one thing, but character? As a 16-year-old American girl, I feel this program directly violates everything this country has ever stood for, in more ways than one.
Dana Yecker
via the Internet
Hey, Can't a Swinger Lay Down the Law?
I want to say thank you for printing "You Have the Right to Remain Flaccid" (Paul Demko, February 25).
I'm a swinger, and I love to go out to the clubs and meet people who share my interests. It's like going to Haulover Beach and being nude in the wide open, but at the clubs there are no underage people, you don't get a sunburn on your unmentionables, and you have the opportunity to be who you are and do what you want in a safe, semiprivate environment.
Swingers need to stand up for their rights and "lay" down the law.
Nicholas Hunter
via the Internet
Up Against the Wall, Ken Jenne
Everybody involved in this case should sue Broward County over this ("You Have the Right to Remain Flaccid"). The only way to stop this is to humiliate [BSO] in front of everybody.
What they have done is to go directly against the freedoms this country is based on. These individuals should be sent to live in other countries where ideas like private property or freedom to do whatever you want to do (as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else) don't exist. There are still places like that around the world, but not here.
Marcelo Rodriguez
via the Internet
