Letters to the Editor
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@ CeliainSF
Here's my plan for changing violent behavior:
1. Outlaw ever hitting a child in the face.
2. Outlaw any form of spanking or child correction that leaves a mark.
3. Require pre-marriage counseling before obtaining a license.
4. Give government "scholarships" (stipends) for college to every girl and boy who reaches the age of 18 without giving birth to or fathering a child.
5. Put men and women who commit sexual offenses against children under the age of 14 in prison for a minimum of twenty years. This should include incest offenders. No more get out of jail cards for sexually abusive moms and dads.
6. Stop punishing people for going on welfare by making it impossible for them to get off welfare. Some so-called deadbeat dads are really poor, uneducated dads. Women who do manage to collect back child support should have it go to their families and not to the state. Reinstitute programs that help welfare parents to go to college rather than workfare. No make-work job programs for welfare recipients. Work requirements have to be designed to lead to real jobs.
7. For God's sake give people universal health care. Health care costs put a tremendous burden upon poor and (many) working class families. Severe financial stress leads to violence.
8. Stop treating drug addiction like a crime and treat it like a medical problem.
9. Insurers should have to treat mental health problems at parity with physical health problems.
10. Provide more safe options for domestic violence victims to get away from their abusers.
11. Keep military recruiters out of high schools.
12. Raise the age for joining the military to 21. Raise the age for serving in a combat zone in any capacity to age 22.
13. Start throwing some real money at education and take the education college lock off of certification so that people with real subject knowledge (graduate school) can teach in the public high schools.