Letter To The Editor:

Last night, my husband and I were eating at a local establishment in the new Wal-Mart shopping center of Hwy.60, when a group of teenagers came in and sat down behind us. The girl was laughing hysterically as she told a story about hitting someone's beloved Chihuahua with her automobile. She described, with glee, how she crushed its head under the wheel of her car. She graphically described her reactions and how she had pretended to cry and be upset in front of the owners of the family's pet. I couldn't eat another bite of food. She literally ruined my dinner.

This is a sad commentary on the lack of regard for the sanctity of life of the future generation that will be in charge of us when we are in the nursing homes. I blame parents for not teaching them any sense of human feelings towards life in general, which includes people's pets. To find humor in the tragedy that occurred, even accidentally, is sick and sadistic. To say that I was mortified at her behavior in a public restaurant is an understatement. Where are the parents of these teenagers? Have they been absent during the raising of their children? To ignore this type of behavior is incorrigible parenting.

As parents, we are given the job of parenting, but what I see in public and as a teacher in school is that parenting is a skill that is lacking in a great majority of homes (not all, but most) today. It is a lost art.

The television has been the baby-sitter and what is being taught there does not need to be learned. It is a horrible replacement for a parent during the formative years of life.

Rita G. Lowrance, Ed. S.
Cleveland.

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