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To the editor:
"A mother's heart is a child's playground." I think all mothers are familiar with this -- how we don't want to admit that our children will do something wrong. We want to protect them. This never goes away.
As I look upon the picture in the Nevada section of today's paper, I see a mother holding on to her little boy. Oh, how I pray I could hold on to my little boy. You see, my little boy is in prison. He will be there the rest of his life -- he has no chance for parole. My little boy is strip searched every time I go visit him. Not once, but twice. Once before he enters the visiting area and once before he returns to his cell.
I taught him right from wrong; I gave him a lot of love, but perhaps I did not discipline him when it was called for. Perhaps if I had disciplined him and held him responsible for his actions at a younger age, perhaps if I hadn't tried to stick up for him when he got into trouble, I could hold my little boy and possibly a little grandchild in the future.
Ms. Anderson needs to love her little Jeremy; she needs to teach him right from wrong. She needs to discipline him and make him responsible for his actions. How I wish someone had arrested and strip searched my little boy at a younger age. Maybe it would have scared him enough so that he would not be where he is today.
And if Ms. Anderson wants publicity, then don't discipline little Jeremy; don't make him be responsible for his alleged vandalism. When little Jeremy grows up and gets into trouble, Ms. Anderson will have all the publicity she can handle. I've been there. Oh, how I wish I could change the hands of time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
Richard Plaster is out a large sum of money. He seems to be dealing with this whole fiasco very graciously. I have a suggestion, and that is that little Jeremy work with Mr. Plaster for a few years. Let little Jeremy help pour cement when the temperature rises to 110 degrees. Let little Jeremy sweat out this debt and then ask him if he would repeat this same act.
I have a gut feeling that little Jeremy, if he were to work this debt off, might learn a valuable lesson and perhaps start growing into a responsible young man.
VICKIE L. RICHTER
Las Vegas
-- To the editor:
I watched a national news broadcast here last night on CTV which showed one of the most pathetic scenes I've witnessed in a long time: a 9-year old boy arrested, charged and strip searched over writing his name in the concrete.
Your police department didn't even have enough grey matter to handle this with his parents in a manner which would have shown some adult decency.
This is a child!
He acted on an irresistible invitation from another adult, who in allowing this and then leaving the little guy to take the rap showed about the same sense of decency.
We hear your state has an overcrowding problem in the jails. Well, maybe if you stopped arresting people for playing nicky, nicky nine door and accidentally stepping on someone's begonias, you would have more space.
On a vacation in your area a while back, our vehicle was entered and robbed. When we reported it to your finest, we were laughed at, given a file number and told they didn't have time for "petty stuff." What do you call this? Does this contractor not have insurance? Are they scared to file a claim due to their ratings?
Is this really worth the gears you're putting the family, especially the little boy, through? Where is the "adult" who allowed this? Does he still have a job?
Perhaps we should look at the fact that this little guy might have suffered concrete burns in the act in an unprotected construction zone. Who's responsible then?
Why did he have to be searched? If that had been done by a private citizen, your police would probably have arrested him or her and trotted them out in the public eye like a pervert.
In my mind, whoever the imbecile is that decided a little kid with his finger in wet concrete needed to be yanked out of school, arrested and strip searched should be showcased just as publicly as a pervert -- badge or not.
Your actions have definitely made our future vacation plans much easier. After all, someone in Las Vegas could be pouring a pad for their garbage can, and well, my kids are just kids.
Shame on you, Las Vegas!
ANDY VANDERPLAS
Alberta, Canada
-- To the editor:
My in-laws who are staying with me during completion of their new house have decided to extend their stay another two weeks. You see, a couple of kids thought it would be fun to spread roofing tar and paint all over the brand new cabinets and oak stair railings.
Every day we see new graffiti on the walls and buildings of Las Vegas. Ask me if I feel sorry for Jeremy Anderson. I feel sorry only for the lack of parental guidance and the inability of Barbara Anderson to teach her son to respect the property of others. I assume no charges would be filed against the vandals who did the damage to my in-laws' house, if they had Ms. Anderson for a mother and the media behind her. It makes me wonder where we are all headed.
D. RUSKOWITZ
Las Vegas
-- To the editor:
Your editorial of March 7, "Slow down, mom: Woman looks for sympathy in case of son accused of vandalism" is 90 percent right on target.
The mother, Barbara Anderson, is wrong in seeking sympathy from the public via the media. The boy allegedly did $10,000 worth of damage. I believe the police were correct in arresting the boy at school and then applying a strip search on the boy.
The motivation here was to frighten this 9-year-old. These tactics will have a lasting impression on this future adult. Be reasonably assured this child, after this incident, will most probably not be a future violator.
If mommy was and is unwilling to pay for the damages, does anyone really think she will adequately punish the child? I doubt it. Mommy better start shopping for a loan.
JOHN G. MILFORD
Las Vegas
-- To the editor:
I am outraged at the media attention given Barbara Anderson and her son Jeremy. In my opinion she is exploiting her child. According to your article, she refused to pay for the damages incurred, so Mr. Plaster used the only recourse available to recover his damages.
I am appalled at the vilification of Richard Plaster by the media. Mr. Plaster is a fine upstanding family man and has done a tremendous amount of good for the children of this community. I am the wife of a local home builder and past president of the Southern Nevada Homebuilder's Auxiliary. I know first hand the amount of damage children have done to building projects. Parents should be aware that a construction site is not a playground and keep their children away. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are wasted repairing the damage done by children -- having a property resurveyed after stakes are pulled up, broken widows, graffiti, etc. This cost must be passed on to the home buyers, so everyone loses.
SHIRLEY DICKSTEIN
Las Vegas
-- To the editor:
Let me see if I understand this correctly: A crime is committed and the victim, after failing to secure redress from the perpetrator, seeks legal remedy. But the spinmeisters use the liberal media to draw attention away from the perpetrator's criminal action and focus it on the victim.
Paula Jones versus William Clinton, or Richard Plaster versus Jeremy Anderson? Too bad Mr. Anderson wasn't able to inscribe his handiwork on a sidewalk in downtown Singapore.
DAVID PERLMAN
Las Vegas
-- To the editor:
For at least a century, kids have been writing their names on sidewalks. Thanks to Stewart Bell, this horrendous practice will finally stop.
As a fellow American, I wish to thank your esteemed district attorney for once again holding American justice up to ridicule and making our legal system, as it so often is, the laughing stock of the free world. London and Paris and Tokyo are guffawing right now, all thanks to Stewart Bell.
All the poor kid needed was a sound thrashing. But Mr. Bell would prosecute the parents for that, wouldn't he? Evidently he's discovered that the tighter he handcuffs parents in their efforts to impose discipline, the better he can aggrandize his own power to ventilate draconian machismo. Bravo!
R.M. FRANK
Professor of Law
Southern University
Baton Rouge, La.
-- To the editor:
A 9-year-old boy writes his name in some fresh concrete and the legal system wants to make a felon out of him. How many readers of this paper, when they were Jeremy's age, at one time or another wrote their name or put their hand in a freshly poured concrete slab?
I think that the so-called victim of this crime should take some responsibility for what happened. If this contractor and other contractors after they pour a sidewalk would place barricades around their work and hire a $6-an-hour security guard to protect their investment, then they would not have this problem.
AL POLL
Las Vegas
-- To the editor:
Concerning the 9-year-old boy charged with sidewalk vandalism, the police and the school district state that they tried repeatedly to call the mother prior to the arrest. We have to ask: Where was the mother while her son was vandalizing sidewalks?
The police notified her on Dec. 9 of an investigation and made the arrest on Jan. 28. What was the mother doing to resolve the situation during this 48-day period? The police state they questioned the child two weeks prior to the arrest. During this two-week period, was the mother making an effort to resolve the problem, or was she too busy preparing for her talk show debuts?
The contractor, Richard Plaster, asked the mother to pay damages and she ignored him. Come on, Ms.. Anderson, stop whining, get off the talk shows, take responsibility for your son's actions and pay Mr. Plaster the $10,000 for damage. Nevada law states that felony vandalism is a crime and the boy should be arrested. What is the difference if the child is arrested in school, on the street or at home?
Certainly Ms. Anderson had sufficient notice and time to resolve the problem. Concerning the strip search that all the do-gooders are up in arms about -- I'm sure the Clark County jail has rules concerning a strip search on "everyone" being arrested. From what we all read today about guns in schools, drive-by shootings and school buses being shot at, if I were a cop I would want a search done, even on a 9-year-old child.
MARV ROTH
Las Vegas
Agree or disagree? Write us at letters@lvrj.com
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