Teens and alcohol

Ever since I began high school, I’ve heard stories of peers getting hammered on a Saturday night and not remembering anything the next day. I never said anything then, and I still bite my tongue when I hear similar stories now.

I see people I knew as innocent elementary school kids turn into delinquents who don’t seem to care about their lives. I’m shocked by the lack of self-respect some of my own peers have.

Underage drinking can affect not only the drinkers, but also their parents, their friends and anyone else who comes into contact with them.

We are the next generation. We are the next group of individuals who have a chance to change the world, but is partying every weekend the legacy we want to leave?

If — and only if — we can help change social views now, my generation and future generations will learn what true potential they have to succeed in an increasingly difficult world.

Jesse Scholtz

Grain Valley

Tax cut benefits

In part because of federal tax cuts, Missouri’s Walmart associates received nearly $15 million in combined bonuses this month.

They’re not alone. More than 435 U.S. employers have used their tax savings to reward employees, benefiting more than 4 million working Americans.

According to the Treasury Department, 90 percent of Americans are seeing an increase in their take-home pay as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, most can agree that seeing an increase in one’s paycheck is something we can all smile about.

The legislation allows hard-working American taxpayers to retain more of their earnings, which can be used to cover individual expenses and generate economic growth. American families now pay zero tax on earnings up to $24,000, while the child tax credit has doubled to $2,000 per child.

Working-class families also benefit from the elimination of the 15 percent tax bracket.

Tax cuts are exactly what we needed to restore hope into Missouri’s economy.

Mark Anthony Jones

Chairman, Jackson

County Republican Party

Kansas City

Staying put

The writer of a March 14 letter to the editor seems a bit confused on many levels. (14A)

First, we are a nation of laws, which are first promulgated and codified by politicians — thus we are governed by those people.

Second, we are both a republic and a democracy, the terms being almost interchangeable.

Third, the vast majority of Americans do support our country, even though they may wish to improve it.

The Second Amendment was written in a time when militias needed to be organized as needed, and men needed their single-shot muskets to heed the call.

The founders could never have envisioned the vast policing and military organizations currently in place any more than they could have envisioned the array of lethal weapons at our disposal.

I, for one, love and admire our country and must admit to no small feeling of insult from those who would doubt that. I will not be packing my bags any time soon, as the letter suggested those who disagree should do.

Ed Papacena

Kansas City

Voices of peace

The student walkouts and demonstrations in the United States and around the world echo many elements of college students in the 1960s, with demands for change in the culture of violence.

High school students, some younger than 17, are aware of continuing violence since their birth — 17 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, violence in Syria and elsewhere.

American schools and classrooms for students of all ages are not safe for learning. Instead, they are in danger of gun violence and loss of life.

The only solution presented by too many of our leaders is more guns in schools, rather than books and computers for learning and a safe environment.

There is a demand for social and cultural change that the adult generation and its elected representatives have been unable to reduce or resolve.

Let us hear students’ voices in the coming generation — their desires for reducing global violence, including in the U.S., and a more peaceful global society.

Manny Pedram

Kansas City

A grim message

A new inscription on the Statue of Liberty should read: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter the United Russian Annex of America.”

Lynne Kukal

Kansas City