To the Editor:

I feel it is amoral the way we publicly humiliate those that make a bad choice. Who of us has not made a mistake? And yes, there should be consequences for actions both dangerous to one's self and others; yet why must one have it written up in a local paper - shame, guilt, sorrow. This is not the Dark Ages, a time when mistakes were made public by naked humiliation.

[And] if a young person, say, drinks alcohol, possibly for the first time, why would we expel her from school, leaving the co-conspirators to get off scot-free. Why not wonder, "Does this child of god need our love?" I am referencing a recent incident at our local high school. Stop talking about compassion and act on that intention.

"To err is human, to forgive divine," Compassion is the truest form of religion. Let us remember that.

Yours truly,

Julia Provey

19 Pine Street, Sandy Hook         September 20, 2016