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PrintRegarding the closure of the Center for Creative Play ("For Many Children, Play Time Is Over," March 29):
My sons (ages 4 and 2) and I had been going to this center for more than a year and they absolutely loved this place. CFCP also provided a valuable service called Our Time, a respite service for families with children who are diagnosed with various special needs.
I cannot begin to express how disappointed I am that the center has closed. Before the CFCP was implemented, that building was an abandoned and decaying lot that was once a Foodland. And now it looks like this community has lost a valuable and much-needed resource to gain yet another vacant and abandoned lot, which is just what this city doesn't need.
How sad this is on many levels. This center was created with the help of so many generous local foundations. Why have we let this go? At a time when the economy is being hit hard, we cannot let our community decay like this. Our children need a place to play and grow in a positive environment. What are we to do with our kids when it is too cold or rainy for the playground now?
ZOE V. WESLOWSKI
Regent Square
What would Mister Rogers do? As an educator for the Pittsburgh Public Schools and an admirer of Fred Rogers, I often ask myself and my fellow educators this question.
I was very disappointed to hear about the closing of the Center for Creative Play in Swissvale. What an oxymoron for the city of Pittsburgh; we just celebrated Mister Rogers' 80th birthday and patted ourselves on the back as the city revealed its plans for the bronze statue of Mister Rogers on the North Shore! Meanwhile on the other side of the city, we have to close the Center for Creative Play. What would Mister Rogers do?
I am sure that someone in this city is sitting on some money that could help the children in this city! Where is the Big Giver for Pittsburgh? Now is the time to help the children; all they want to do is play in a safe environment.
KATHLEEN NEE BROWN
Monroeville
I would like to rebut some points made in recent letters regarding smoke-free legislation ("Why Shouldn't Smoke-Averse Workers Seek Jobs Elsewhere?" March 25 and "Smokers' Rights," March 26).
The question posed by the first letter can be answered with another question: "Why shouldn't smokers step outside for five minutes to avoid harming others?" It is certainly not an unreasonable hardship and doesn't prevent anyone from smoking. The author attempts to compare tobacco smoke pollution to allergens and lifestyles. Secondhand smoke harms everyone, regardless of their allergic sensitivity or "lifestyle choices."
In the second letter, the author drags out the tired argument of the supposedly heavy-handed government. Just because a business is private doesn't mean it can do whatever it pleases, especially when it endangers the health of its employees and customers. I wonder if the letter writer opposes the Allegheny County Health Department "imposing its will" by enforcing a restaurant sanitation code?
Please visit our Web site for a listing of completely smoke-free restaurants, bars and lodging at www.NoSmokeDining.org. Even without a law, these establishments already show respect for people by providing a clean-air environment.
GREG HARTLEY
Assistant Director
SmokeFree Pennsylvania
Franklin Park
In the March 17 article "Sex-Ed Topics Too Narrow," the PG briefly describes "comprehensive sexuality education" as curricula that would "potentially discuss abstinence, contraceptive use and sexual practices."
As an educator who has been teaching comprehensive sexuality education to teens for more than seven years, I wanted to correct any impression that my job is to lecture about condoms, the pill and oral sex.
Our goal is to provide teens with the proper tools and education to help them make healthy and responsible decisions for themselves. Comprehensive sexuality education is abstinence-based: We emphasize that abstinence is the only way to truly prevent sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. Our classes do cover correct condom use and birth control methods, but teens also learn to identify their own values about sexuality and to practice negotiation and refusal skills to reduce risks involved with sexual activity. All of the curricula that we use are evidence-based, medically accurate and are recommended by the CDC.
Our programs give teens the opportunity to ask questions and get a response that is nonjudgmental and accurate. While abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula take away responsibility by treating teens like they aren't hormonally charged beings bombarded with sexual messages from television and advertising every day, comprehensive sexuality education recognizes that teens are complex people living in a complex society making decisions on their own -- sometimes decisions we don't want them to make.
As adults, we owe it to them to provide them with information to protect themselves throughout their lives.
SUE STEELE
Vice President for Education
Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania
Downtown
Tom Barnes, PG Harrisburg Bureau chief, failed to mention in a March 21 article that the surge in Democratic registration is largely a ploy by the opposition party ("Pa. Voters Switching to Dems in Droves, Despite Online Glitch"). This tactic was recently used in Ohio.
In this area, ads promoting the tactic appeared in publications. They encouraged people to change registration for the primary to vote for Hillary Clinton and then change registration again before the November election. Mrs. Clinton is the candidate the Republicans prefer to oppose in November.
Surely the people in Harrisburg are aware of this. Shouldn't our Legislature put a stop to this scam? More and more our election system is resembling that of a Third World country.
MARGARET KRESS
Valencia
We need a new national holiday called "Pick Up Litter Day." Am I out of style or is littering the "in" thing to do?
If everyone did just his or her own neighborhood or street, that would be a good start. Then we should have all the high school clubs go out for a day. Of course, the nonviolent criminals in jail should be out there, too. They wouldn't need to use their gym equipment and exercise room as often!
JEAN SHIELDS
Penn Hills
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