Early Action Crucial for the Wayward

Re “Straightening Out Our Crooked Youth” (editorial, July 12): Thank you for your thoughts on the child gone wrong.

A child blunders trying to get a life worth living, and the system snaps shut on one more victim of a failed culture.

This infant of scorn was once bright-eyed and full of love and hope and truth. He laughed and cried easily. He trusted the world and was without guile.

What happened on his way to becoming a baby burglar? Did he begin his immoral journey on the very day the cops swooped in? Did he choose immorality, or was it ground into his little soul? Was he talked to, or was he ignored? Was he kissed, or was he hit? Was he held in arms, or was he pushed out of the way? Was he loved for being himself, or was he shamed for being alive? Intervention works best on the first day of his life.

TOM THOMPSON, Balboa