Banning soda
I am writing in response to “Study: Soda bans likely to backfire” (News, April 14). You scream, I scream, we all scream for — soda? I know I do, and I know that I cannot be the only one.
Soda consumers like myself who want their 32-ounce soda will find a way to get that 32-ounce soda despite there being a ban on it or not. The research of the University of California at San Diego hit the nail right on the head: If I can’t buy my 32-ounce soda anymore, then I will just have to buy two 16-ounce sodas.
What is so wrong about this? Absolutely nothing. In fact I’m starting to think this soda ban might be a good thing after all rather than “arbitrary and capricious,” as the New York judge who struck down the ban suggested. Sure, I will still be drinking 32 ounces of soda, but if there is one thing to be certain about, I won’t stop buying. The UC San Diego study proved that when given the opportunity to buy a bundle of beverages over the single-serving beverage, more people chose the bundle. In other words, I see this as an opportunity to expand the economy.
Ultimately, it is a win-win situation. The soda consumers who don’t mind paying a little extra for two 16-ounce sodas as opposed to their usual one 32-ounce soda will help out the economy, and those who don’t want to pay a little extra will become a little healthier.
I scream for a ban on soda.
— Jamie Bonnema, Alsip
Children swearing
This is in response to “@#$!!** happens — should mom and dad really care?” by Chicago Tribune columnist Vikki Ortiz Healy (Chicagoland Health & Family, April 17). The answer is yes! Ortiz Healy would have you believe that swearing by a child is absolutely acceptable. But even she herself admits she doesn’t want her child going off to kindergarten and swearing at the teacher.
Herein lies the problem. When you allow a child (toddler or older) to cuss and swear, you are not teaching him or her the acceptable time and place to use those words. And then you end up in the unenviable position I have been in recently: I had to reprimand a first-grader for using the F-word at the bus stop.
The columnist says it would be OK for her high schooler to use those words, and that is fine. I agree that a teen has better judgment on the appropriateness of foul language. Where a teen would understand you don’t cuss in church or in front of grandparents, a toddler or slightly older child who is allowed to cuss at will does not understand the inappropriateness of this behavior in different social situations.
And that is why Ortiz Healy and her husband should teach their daughter not to swear. Otherwise, parents (who are hosting their child for a play date or watching over their child at the bus stop) and teachers will have to do that job for them.
— Heather McKillip, Aurora
Vicious language
I believe we should definitely care about how our children express themselves. Just because children hear cuss words does not make it acceptable to use them.
Words can be very violent and vicious. I feel this is another symptom of our deteriorating society. Manners, grace, beauty and appropriateness are just a few areas of concern.
I have told my children that their language is an indicator of the kind of person they are and of their intelligence.
— Nora C. Waliczek, Homer Glen
It matters
I am heartened by the final hope Vikki Ortiz Healy expresses in her column in which she advances the provocative argument that parents need not fuss over their young children’s use of “swearing.” She concludes that she “will instill an expansive vocabulary and love of words in our daughter (Gracie) so that she won’t often need to resort to swearing.”
Excellent.
The problem lies in the advice to the rest of us parents to not “get so hot under the collar about this stuff,” as she quotes one of her experts’ opinions about the “perceived harm of swearing.” The overlooked point is why we adults get so hot under the collar about annoyances that do not merit the swearing Gracie’s father modeled for his daughter while he drove the family car.
The point is the failure to possess an expansive vocabulary that would have prompted an expression other than the so overused and worn-out F-bomb. Can we think of nothing else to say?
And, finally, the real point is self-regulation of affect: One of the essential parenting tasks, truly vital to our children, is how we display and teach the capacity to modulate intense feeling, to regulate internal unease, to channel powerful feeling to our own advantage and to the betterment of the others we touch. I have been uneven in meeting these challenges in my own parenting. But it really does matter.
— J. Richard Spatafora, M.D., assistant professor of clinical psychiatry, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago
Summer music
Thank you for publishing “Now hear this (if you can); Study: City living — riding subway, using ear buds — hard on hearing” (Chicagoland Health & Family, April 17). As summer approaches, many children and teens, especially lifeguards, face another attack on their hearing: high-decibel levels of music at public swimming pools they visit daily. To be heard over play, nearby traffic, the pool pump and other sounds, this music has to be played at a high volume, but at what cost?
In an era when almost everyone carries headphones, is pool music even necessary?
— Amy Levin, DeKalb
Mental health services
During her recent visit, first lady Michelle Obama rallied business and community leaders for more support of programs and resources dedicated to youth to help curb the pervasive violence that threatens many Chicago neighborhoods. As health care providers serving some of the city’s most vulnerable, underserved communities, we applaud Mrs. Obama’s efforts.
While the campaign to raise $50 million to support community programs for at-risk children is vital, this country must not overlook mental health services for youth, particularly as the national conversation on gun control rages on.
All children have the same basic needs: safety, identity, nutrition and love. Gaps in any of these essentials can lead to anxiety and other psychological challenges that can have serious repercussions if left unaddressed. That’s why it’s important that mental health screenings be performed early and often to enable intervention at the first sign of risk.
While recent closings of many of the city’s mental health facilities have grabbed headlines, there are quiet efforts to bolster mental health services at the community level. One such initiative is the Comer Children’s Hospital Mobile Medical Unit at the University of Chicago Medicine. Since 2008, this program has trained nearly 500 teachers, principals, parents and students to recognize and support students with mental health issues. Adolescents with emotional, social or psychological concerns are referred to a licensed clinical social worker based at an area high school and, when needed, more intense services are arranged.
As the initiative slowly builds momentum and reach, we’ve seen inspiring cases of troubled teens being brought back from the brink of falling into a lifestyle that could lead to violent behavior. Every individual success is a testament to the power of multidisciplinary partnerships.
Our experiences indicate that Mrs. Obama is right on target in articulating the urgent need for a holistic approach to fostering safe, supportive school environments, along with strengthening community programs and resources for youth. In the advancement of these proposals, we should be cognizant of opportunities to identify and address mental health needs, reduce stigma and enable young people to gain healthy coping skills for a lifetime.
— Icy Cade-Bell, M.D., medical director of Pediatric Mobile Unit, and Daniel Johnson, M.D., section chief of Academic Pediatrics and director of Community Health Sciences, associate professors of pediatrics, University of Chicago Medicine
