J.F.K. and Today’s Youth
“Teaching J.F.K.” (by Patt Morrison, Nov. 22) dealt with a subject of interest to me. I am a student at Franklin High School and know Franklin teacher Sharon Bergh, who was profiled in the article. After reading the article I was left with feelings of anger and disgust because of statements made by Morrison.
“(Students believe) that the wistfulness for one dead President in 1963 is hardly worth a backward glance from the flinty realities of life in 1988”--a quote from Morrison. I do not agree.
The article further upset me because of unsupported statements that negatively exaggerated Franklin High and its neighborhood by describing it as a place where the students are in majority “boat people who have eaten lizards to survive . . . (and) kids who see friends die routinely in gang cross fire.”
As a student at Franklin, I can speak for many of my peers when I say that many young people today are eager to learn about President Kennedy. He is, regardless of one’s background, a positive figure to respect and remember, regardless of the growing gap between 1963 and today’s youth.
VANESSA SOTO
Los Angeles
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