Dear Editor,

I was very disappointed and saddened by Matt Mackinder’s “What ‘Matt’ers” article on December 9, “Stop the complaints.”
As a parent and community member, I am concerned for our children’s health and education. The attitude that there’s a pandemic and there’s nothing we can do is lazy and unfair to our children.
The belief that dual-income parents are selfish is unsubstantiated as many dual-income families are in fact being responsible by trying to save for our retirement and our childrens’ college education.
I disagree that being responsible also makes us selfish. Also, children and families are suffering from depression and anxiety because of this.
Yes, people not affected by the school closings are also experiencing mood affects from the pandemic. However, children can have a harder time coping than the adults because they don’t have the cognitive development.
Children have killed themselves due to the psychosocial strain, but the parents are “just complainers.”
And if Matt is so annoyed by complaining, then why is he doing it?
No one agrees about everything, but let’s not be dismissive about the valid concerns people have for the children.
Things are not going to be anywhere near normal for a while, but we can still do more for our children.
Thank you for listening.

Sincerely,
Lynette Wagner
Clarkston