Bowing to Terrorism

I was greatly disturbed by the decision today by La Jolla Country Day School to preclude Sharon Rogers from returning to her teaching duties there. As a parent of a small child, I can appreciate the concern of other parents that, however remote the danger might be, their children should not be placed in unnecessary jeopardy.

However, as parents, we expose our children to risks every day. A drive in a car is more dangerous than keeping a child at home. Many of us allow our children to take up dangerous activities (dirt biking, for example) purely for fun.

The classroom is supposed to be a learning environmant. What do we teach our children when we say that their teacher has been directed to leave the school because she has been threatened by terrorists? What does it say about our strength of resolve to uphold our ideals when threats from Iran so easily cause us to censor our books and to spurn fellow citizens as if they were modern-day lepers?

It should not matter how you feel about the policy that placed Capt. Will Rogers III and the Vincennes in a war zone, with orders to go in harm’ss way and defend themselves. With direct responsibility for more than 300 lives, he made the only “right” decision available to him.

What should matter to you is how much control over our own lives we concede to terrorists. For whatever reason, this country has--so far--avoided the day-to-day reality of terrorism that affects so many in Europe and in the Middle East. This form of “giving in” to terrorism not only invites further and more egregious acts, it helps the terrorists’ cause by making the lives of Capt. and Mrs. Rogers all the more difficult. In a tangible way, La Jolla Country Day School has just advanced the cause of terrorism in this country.

R.L. YOUNG

El Cajon