(Letter to the Editor - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

Each week, I look forward to reading the student editorial in Sunday’s edition. The student, teacher, or newspaper official (or perhaps all three) who came up with this idea should be commended. Not every one of these has been great, but each one has offered insights from a youthful point of view not readily available from other sources. Kaylynn’s editorial on May 14 was exceptional.

Her topic exposed and excoriated a current national shame — the effort to censor what I can read and what my children can read, because the self-appointed censors are uncomfortable with the opinions expressed and/or the manner in which they are presented.

My wife and I just visited the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem last month, where we were graphically reminded that the Nazi book burning that began in 1933 led directly to the extermination of 6 million Jews ten years later. The First Amendment should be inviolate. Kaylynn has captured the essence of the rational argument: exercise vigilance with respect to what your own children are reading, hearing, and watching, but do not dare to impose your standards on me or my children.

My only disappointment was with the fact a decision was made because of concern about local society’s response to Kaylynn’s thoughtful and courageous stance, to withhold her last name from publication.

Richard A. Bush

Parkersburg