Kids need dads
Adam Coleman is spot on [“Fathers (& Marriage) Are Our Root Cure,” PostOpinion, June 17].
I’ve worked for over 20 years in prison education. I have taught at city jails and state and federal prisons. I’ve found there is always a backstory — and it is virtually always childhood trauma, sometimes hair-raising. Almost invariably, parental abandonment is involved or the perception of abandonment. One or both parents is just not there.
When a child’s world falls apart or never was intact, they often lose their moral compass and sense of self-worth. They don’t care either about themselves or about others. Life seems like a joke of some kind.
I’ve come to the conclusion that if we could address childhood trauma, or better yet, do everything we can to prevent it, we would clear out the prisons.
Katherine Meeks, Manhattan
Same old hate
The article “Testing the limits” (Renu Mukherjee, PostScript, June 18) describes how various universities attempt to block Asians from being admitted in order to allow other ethnicities to be admitted instead. And this is done in the name of diversification.
Years ago, Jews were not allowed to intern in hospitals, so they built their own hospital, Mt. Sinai. If anti-Asian bigotry continues, perhaps that community should consider building its own schools. Not to discriminate against others, but to allow the best students of all ethnicities to fairly compete and be accepted on merit.
Les Kurtz, Manhattan
Fish have feelings
That Rex Colubra would form a bond with a smallmouth bass is not surprising to anyone who studies aquatic animals (“I made friends with a fish — and now we meet up every summer,” June 19).
Fish form emotional attachments and become depressed when they lose their mates. Fish are complex and intelligent. They can recognize themselves in a mirror, a classic test of self-awareness. They can count and tell time, think ahead and “talk” to one another underwater. A 2019 University of Liverpool study showed that fish feel pain in a way similar to humans.
Living beings shouldn’t have to suffer, especially when there are so many cruelty-free vegan seafood options now.
Scott Miller, The PETA Foundation, Norfolk, Va.
China’s COVID guilt
Within a few months of the start of the COVID pandemic, I had an appointment with my family doctor of 25 years, whom I respected and had become friends with over the years (“10 reasons we know COVID leaked from the Wuhan Lab,” Marty Makary, June 20).
I asked if he thought the virus came from the Wuhan lab or a wet market. He said he believed it came from a lab, as it did not behave like a naturally occurring virus and seemed to display gain-of-function characteristics.
Many suspected this, but so-called government experts and media censorship squashed any discussion. Sadly, no one will be held accountable for suppression of the truth and dereliction of duty.
Elizabeth Beese, Palm Coast, Fla.
Pro-crime laws
The bill to make it easier for convicted criminals to have their convictions overturned has been passed by the state Assembly, because, according to Speaker Carl Heastie, too many people are “sitting behind bars for crimes they did not commit” (“Destroying NY’s Justice System,” Editorial, June 21).
No surprise there, as Heastie and his fellow pro-crime Democrats don’t even want people to sit behind bars for crimes they did commit.
Barry Koppel, Queens
