Children pick up on adults’ bad behavior

When I picked my children up from school Aug. 24, I was told by the principal that my 9-year-old son had been punched in the face because he was wearing a T-shirt with President Barack Obama's picture on it. When I came home from school, I turned on the news only to hear Tom Eisenhower (World War II veteran) stand in front of U.S. Senator (Chuck Grassley) and threaten to “take a gun to Washington.” The senator said nothing.

I cannot help but think that these two incidents have their roots in the same place. The folks who have been shouting down town hall meetings, calling our president things like “Hitler” and a “fascist” and threatening violence, need to remember that children are watching them. Children are learning from people like Eisenhower that violence is an acceptable way to express disagreement. And now all of our children are caught in the crossfire of adults' bad behavior.

Please go to the town hall meetings, ask hard questions and demand that your representatives answer them. Have a vigorous debate. But please remember that we are civilized people, and we can and must do better than this.

Leslie Schiller

Elkader