letters.

• Position: Letter to the Editor

Rights vs. Safety

When a student does, writes, or speaks something threatening to another student or a faculty member, the principal has the right to look into the situation. However, since the Columbine shootings, school systems have been on the lookout for "warning signs" far too much ("The Clampdown on Teen Rights," 9/6/99). The majority of teenagers in this country would never even think of harming another person. It is unfair to assume that because someone is wearing all black or their hair is dyed an unusual color that they are dangerous. Teenagers are teenagers. We like to do things our own way, and if that means dressing differently, we have the right to do so.

DARA SILVERSTEIN Port Washington, New York

The whole clampdown is necessary to some degree, but some of the measures are extreme. In most cases, what the students said or wrote was not a confession of something they were actually going to do, but merely a private letter expressing an opinion.

Something needs to be done to stop kids from gunning down their peers, but the answer is not to suspend people for saying that they do not like their principal. Chances are that the student is just mad and means nothing serious.

Everything kids say is being taken seriously these days, like there is no longer any room for goofing around.

DAVE HUBER St. Charles, Illinois

The fact is that we can't just say anything we want, wear anything we want, and/or do anything we want. This is not the case and never has been. Yes, I agree that two of these students did not get treated fairly, but Zac Paul and Devin Furey deserve what the school handed them. If Zac were an adult, he could have been sued for slander, and Devin's case is a safety issue. Laws are made on a national and local level for the safety of everyone. Even if we disagree, we still have to obey the law.

RYAN MARTIN Lewisville, Texas

Confidence, Not Ego

I applaud Mia Hamm for acknowledging that athletes don't need to have a superior attitude to prove themselves ("A Superstar's Burden," 9/6/99)...