Wishing for the gift of parental involvement

Dear Santa:

Being a teacher, I have a simple request for you this holiday season. Although I appreciate the quintessential Starbucks gift card and would never turn away the hand-lotion gift set, if I had my way, I think I'd opt for something a bit different. This year, I want the gift of parents.

I want parents whose love is not contingent upon an A and who understand that sometimes a B- is worthy of the refrigerator door. I want parents who school their child on the correct use of "your" and "you're." I want parents who tell their daughter that her skirt is a bit too revealing, and who tell their son that, one day, the level at which he wears his pants might determine whether or not he gets a job.

I want parents who appreciate and support the hidden curriculum that I teach, hour by hour, that deals not with proper nouns or literary comparison, but punctuality, respect and courage. I want parents who order a drug test hours after I sit across from them in a conference and tell them that their son has been sleepy in class, with bloodshot eyes, and that he has unique floral designs on the cover of his journal.

I want parents who read to their children when they are in kindergarten as well as when those same children are in the 11th grade. I want parents who click the URL that I send in an email with the subject labeled "plagiarism" and follow that up with a simple discussion on ethics.

I know you're going to be concerned about monetary cost, Santa, but I am concerned with human cost.

Christa Fialkiewicz

Henderson

Moral stand

To the editor:

Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson is right. There should be no legislation legalizing Internet poker (Dec. 8 Review-Journal). The danger to our minors is too great.

Rightly, Mr. Adelson said available technology is inadequate to prevent underage gamblers from making wagers on the Internet. America is already in a moral decline. Our youth are already being victimized and manipulated daily. Enough is enough. Keep Internet poker illegal to protect our youth. Rightly and judiciously, Mr. Adelson says he's opposed to Internet gambling on "moral grounds."

In this day and age, it's edifying to hear and see a casino CEO who places the morals, conduct and future of our youth ahead of making money on them. Though a majority of the casino owners and gambling zealots oppose him, and though he's a lone voice making a moral stand, Mr. Adelson is to be praised and supported for showing concern for our youth.

Clyde Dinkins

Las Vegas

Payroll tax cut

To the editor:

The 2011 payroll tax cut eliminated more than $100 billion in contributions that would have been put into the Social Security trust fund. An extension of the payroll tax cut into 2012 will eliminate at least another $100 billion in Social Security contributions.

Both parties support extending the payroll tax cut even though the tax is the primary source of Social Security funding. I don't understand why senior citizens and the AARP are not loudly voicing their opposition to these cuts. Working people should get a comparable tax break, but not out of the Social Security contributions, and not on the backs of our country's seniors.

Alan Frank

Henderson

Another shooting

To the editor:

Well, here we go again. Another poor, unarmed person is killed by our wonderful police department ("Disabled veteran slain," Tuesday Review-Journal). When is anything going to be done about this?

Also noted in the story: police officers involved in shootings have quit talking to homicide detectives. If you or I shot someone, we sure as heck would have to talk to the homicide detectives. If we didn't talk, we would be detained -- or worse.

So why can't we treat officers who shoot someone just like we would be treated if we shot someone? This is so out of hand it is beyond belief.

Michael Kaye

Las Vegas

Fearing police

To the editor:

Your "Deadly Force" series on police shootings was very informative. Regardless of whether the reader agreed with the stories or not, it did make us think.

Think about this: The other night my wife and I were getting ready to take a walk around our neighborhood. We are in our 40s, so exercise is good. As I was getting ready, a question kept popping up in my head: What if we get stopped by the police? Then what? How would it go?

I didn't say anything to my wife about what was on my mind. So we left the house and walked a few blocks, and on our way back home, my wife said, "I'm glad we didn't get stopped by the police." What is strange about our thinking is we never said we hoped we didn't get mugged or robbed by a criminal.

I do hope that we have not crossed the threshold of fearing police more than fearing the criminal. I really hope that the police departments do something to put our minds at ease, because right now we are worried.

Eugene Sloane

North Las Vegas