Dear Lewis County commissioners,
There are real actions you can take to protect our children.
Regarding the book ratings that were brought up a few weeks ago, it was wonderful to see all the patriot moms and guardians come out that day and voice their support for our First Amendment rights and to protect us from this attempted big government overreach.
We know that perpetrators of harm to our children do not live in books on public library shelves. Perpetrators of harm to our children are in our families and in our communities. About 93 percent of perpetrators are known to the victim’s family. They are uncles, youth pastors, friends of the family, coaches and so on.
Sometimes, it’s difficult to say the truth, but secrecy is the enemy, and we need the truth to protect us.
So let's talk about how much it might cost to rate library books, and what else we could do with all that money to truly protect our children and also lift their families out of poverty, which would provide another true layer of protection for our children.
There are at least 500,000 individual books in the Timberland Regional Library system. It’s a wonderful library system, the likes of which most counties can only dream about. Assuming each book costs, say $5 to rate, times 500,000 books; that comes out to about $2.5 million-plus.
Now, just imagine this money being used for low-income housing, universal health care, education for children around safety and consent.
Let's not shrink, but let’s expand our knowledge and work for a safer world for our children. Let's work together to expand information and support of children and their families and guardians.
Wouldn’t you agree all of this will go a long way to protecting our families and our children from real harm?
Thank you.
Ray Chapman-Wilson
Centralia
