Disappointed by bullying at meeting

I attended the school and city meeting addressing safety. I was stunned by the number of people who sincerely showed concern at the microphone about bullying, while tolerating and participating in a display of extreme disrespect and aggressive put-downs of people presenting on stage. The goal of bullying is to gain power in a social setting, working best if bystanders don't interfere.

Schools can only be embedded in the culture where they are. They have a responsibility to the community, but the community has a larger responsibility to their schools. I am a retired school employee. I lived the statistics presented in the meeting, from the low violence early ‘80s, into the new lockdown drill of the late ‘90s, and eventually a genuine lockdown due to a drunk with a gun on an elementary school playground.

Schools didn’t bring violence to us, we brought it to them. When a community promotes the mind-set that aggressive intimidation to get what you want is OK, even valued, the best intimidation is by threat or use of a gun, and the most intimidation comes with the most lethal weapon, how can anyone wonder why bullying and violence have been adopted by our kids?

Over the last couple of decades, the ability to see other people as fellow, feeling, humans has declined. My bigger fear is not guns, but that a generation is coming of age while threat, intimidation and aggression are so promoted as primary response that empathy, reason and open-mindedness become less and less a consideration. This is the trend that has brought our schools to the meeting they attempted to have last night.

The real danger is that we are not considering what we model and promote as a community culture.

Laura Hebenstreit

Las Cruces

Other leaders have called for border wall

A major controversy between Democrats and Republicans is the disagreement on whether or not the border wall should be extended.

That's right extended!

Previous administrations felt it necessary. Bill Clinton mandated a wall in 1993 with a one-mile fence between Tijuana and San Diego. Bush 43 added 700 miles additional authorization in 2006 with approval of the House and Senate, which were both controlled by Democrats. In 2011 Obama had the Department of Homeland Security complete 649 miles of the border wall.

Some argue that other border protections would be more effective. IE: drones, additional border patrol personnel, maned surveillance towers, crackdown on employers hiring illegals, guest worker programs, others.

Like most political arguments, it seems to be either a wall or no wall, one or the other. It is more likely that some of the alternative systems would be logical in some areas along with a wall in other areas to be the most beneficial and cost effective means of border protection.

Unfortunately our political system doesn't work that way.

Robert K. Murray

Las Cruces

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