Roughhouse in Question

I must disagree with Richard Porter’s “When the kid is laughing hysterically and begging for more, you got to think to yourself, ‘How bad can this be?’ “(“Roughhousing: Does It Breed Chaos or Courage in Kids?” by Paul Ciotti, Jan. 4).

I’m concerned. Rough-housing does not breed courage. The child under Porter’s care, for whatever number of hours he/she is at the child center, returns to a family setting where the mother, father and/or both have the ultimate responsibility to see that their child’s behavior is age-appropriate and acceptable. They want to help their child grow up to be a thoughtful, responsible and self-disciplined adult. Does Porter’s style of interacting with others promote this more positive behavior? I don’t think so.

Today more than ever before there is more shoving, hitting, bullying, and children behaving in a mean manner to each other. We hear from the schools and the media that there is also an increase in boredom, restlessness, lack of interest in learning, etc. TV can’t be blamed for all of this, can it?

MARY N. KARASAWA

Whittier