THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606210039
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 38 lines
Christina Moore's letter regarding the Children's Defense Fund march was naive and misinformed.
She believes the ``news coverage'' she watched. She concluded that children were being exploited by their parents and political groups for the purposes of securing government funding.
She found this disturbing and appalling.
She believes that the people there were ``able-bodied parents who are unproductive and irresponsible'' and who are ``blaming the system for their failures.''
She believes that ``mothers who want their children to be well-adjusted, productive citizens should set the examples.''
I was at that gathering at the Lincoln Memorial with my 9-year-old son. I am a college-educated professional with a full-time job who brought my son ``to set an example.'' Some 200,000 other mothers, and fathers, were there ``to set an example.''
We heard speakers such as Rosie O'Donnell, Cicely Tyson and Melissa Manchester. We heard the editor of People magazine. We heard children and private citizens. I heard none of them say anything about needing more money.
I heard a man describe how his 20-year-old son had been gunned down by a 14-year-old 18 months before. He wondered how it is that a 14-year-old can get a gun before he can get a license to drive. He talked about how we lost two children that day, not just one. He talked of reaching out to the family of the 14-year-old and working to make our country safe for our children. He said nothing about money.
What I heard were stories of how one special adult had made a difference in a child's life, and ways that we can work to address such issues as teen pregnancy, gangs, illiteracy and child abuse and neglect. None of what I heard was a call for money but a call for Americans to wake up.
TRISH O'KEEFE BRENNAN
Virginia Beach, June 12, 1996 by CNB