I am writing to express my disappointment and anger at the Times-Union staff and editors for printing a 12-year-old child's name in the paper for the alleged battery of an elderly man. Clearly, any child who feels they can verbally and physically abuse an elderly person has been let down by the adults in her life. This behavior speaks volumes about the anger and hurt she has suffered in her young life, and the ineffective parenting the adults in her life have provided. If your article is correct, her grandmother now feels justice will be served by heaping criminal charges against her.
But shame on the journalists in your staff room for adding public humiliation to this child's already burdened shoulders by printing her name on the front page of the paper. It may be due to the Freedom of Information Act that her name was released, but it was within your jurisdiction to determine whether or not it was, in fact, newsworthy. I, for one, would gladly forfeit my "right to know" and spare this child additional pain and suffering the adults in her life have given her. Let's hope someone within our community will give her the help she so desperately needs.
