Letters

My sixth grade students have been working on persuasive writing as part of a core English Language Arts assignment. Each student selected a community or world issue they feel strongly about. They discussed their topic in class and/or with adults, completed research on their topic, and chose a group or person responsible in their topic area to be the audience for their letters. The opinions given by the students are their own, and do not necessarily represent those of the St. Regis Mohawk School or any staff member.

I hope you enjoy reading what our leaders of tomorrow are concerned about. If you have the time, please feel free to respond, as the students would really enjoy getting feedback. I will forward any responses I receive over the summer to the students. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely

Ms. Lanetta Butz

Editor’s Note: Due to space constraints we have selected just a few of the writing submissions to publish, although we enjoyed them all.

Dear Editor,

Introduction

All the time forests cut down. Deforestation is what it’s called. It’s very serious because we get a lot from forests around the world and people are just cutting them down for building space.

History/Background

Deforestation is a worldwide problem. We take too much wood from forests. A lot of resources we use come from forests and we use way too much. After trees are cut down, a lot of things in the forest die. It takes hundreds of years for it to all grow back, and about 300 million people depend on forests. In a rain forest 4 miles long, there’s about 1,500 species of plants, 400 species of birds, 150 species of butterflies, 100 species of reptiles, and 60 species of amphibians.

Effects of the Problem

A short-term effect of deforestation is a lot of plants dying. There are over 6500 plants that a healer could use to cure someone from an illness or disease. They might not be able to heal someone if a forest where they get their supplies get cut down. Some long term effects of deforestation are all the trees cut and every animal that lives in forests dead. Since trees are cut down so much; all the trees could be gone. It could take a long time for them to grow back, so people will have to live their entire life without any trees. A lot of animals live in forests, and since so many forests are cut down, a lot of animals die because they have no home and nothing to eat. There are some species of animals that scientists haven’t discovered yet. These new species are becoming extinct very fast because forests keep getting cut down. If this keeps happening, we might never have a new forest animal and we might never have the ones we have now.

Recommendations

There are some ways to stop deforestation. We could stop building things we don’t need over forests, we could reuse things a lot, and we could start using less resources. Environmentalists could help by thinking of more ways to stop deforestation. In fact, everyone con help by using less resources and wood products. The benefits of the Solution are the forests and the things inside them stay alive. If we start using less resources and wood products, there would be more trees and plants. Trees give off oxygen so if we have more trees, we have more oxygen.

Acknowledge Objections

The Solution I thought of might not work because people are used to using a lot of resources. Also, some people really need to build things over forests. Construction people and people who are having things built might disagree because they need space to build things.

Conclusion

Deforestation is a big problem. If we don’t stop it, there will be hardly any trees and forest animals in the future. If we do stop it, there would be more trees, medicines, plants, and animals. So please, if you can, can you help? Every living thing in forests needs you. So please do absolutely what you can to help.

Sincerely,

Rod Garrow

Dear Editor:

All around the world people are abusing animals and only a few are trying to stop it. The [ASPCA] Corporation is trying to stop animal abuse. They are also known as the American Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty.

Henry Bergh founded this corporation. He witnessed animal abuse with his own eyes. He did speeches and eventually in 1866 [ASPCA]. Back then there were only 38 states. At his death there was at least 1 anti-animal cruelty center in 37 of 38 states. If nobody stops animal abuse the entire animal and pet race might be wiped from the earth. If this keeps up in a few months the animal population can go from 4000 to 764. In the next 5 to 20 years they can be extinct. Dogs, cats, birds and any other animals.

We can stop taking animals in as pets and set them free. Maybe we can treat animals like humans. But if we are not the reason people beat animals is because they are drunk or are on drugs or they just want to hit them.

We can stop animal abuse by building more animal shelters, more vets to hire, and keeping drugs out of the U.S. or maybe stop having animals as pets. It would be best. If we let them just roam around and if they need help, then help them, they might be still around in 10 years. The animals are living beings just like us and should be treated like us.

Sincerely,

Wintereagle Michaud

Dear Editor,

Introduction

Drug dealing is a big problem in Ahkwesahsne because many people are doing it. Many people have babies and when they get caught their children get taken away from them. Please stop the drug abuse and stop selling. Get a real job.

History/Background

The problem is that people need money so they sell drugs because they are poor. Most people who sell drugs are drug addicts. People can’t find good jobs that pay well.

Effects of problem

In 5 years, the drugs will be every where and the little kids will be using drugs. Think of this, in 10 years your child could be starting to do drugs. When they smoke a cigarette it takes away an average of 7 minutes of their life. When you stop drug dealing this won’t happen to your children.

Solution

To stop drug dealing there are a lot of Solutions. Do not take drugs because it ruins your life. Stop buying drugs and stop selling drugs. Stop making drugs, and stop the drugs so your children won’t do drugs when they are young.

Acknowledge Objections

The people who might disagree with me are the drug dealers and the drug users. Some drug dealers might disagree because it is their job. The drug users will disagree because their bodies get used to it and needs it. Some people live on drugs.

Conclusion

Stop drug dealing. It is a big problem. So stop dealing and stop doing. You will be saving your self and every body else.

Sincerely,

Kwasare Laffin

Editor:

Introduction

My topic is on bad roads and the problem is that they’re too bumpy. If it is not fixed now then it will get really bad and more people will get hurt in car crashes. The United States has 70.1% of roads in bad condition and that was in 1994.

History/Background

The roads are getting too bad and people are getting hurt. If you don’t do anything soon, it will get bad. The causes are from tractors, diesels, and not enough effort in building the roads. New York State has 69.1% of roads are not in good condition in 1994. New York spends $221.9 million a year on poor roads. Nearly 70% of the nation’s urban and suburban roads are in less than good condition. California, which is the most, spends $450.1 million a year and the least is Vermont with $29.4 million.

Effects of problem

In about a year more roads will be damaged. There will be less people driving on the roads if it is not fixed. In about 10 or 20 years, there would be no cars driving. They will have to go on foot.

Solution

The Solution to my problem is to fix the roads and keep it that way. If they put more effort in fixing the roads then they wouldn’t have this problem now. The government can help fix the roads by buying better machine. The good things about smooth roads are you can play chess or other stuff in the car and it won’t be messed up.

Acknowledge Objections

It might not work because of money and the weather problems. Like New York can only fix the roads between May and October because of rain, thunder, snow, and lightning. Also there might not be enough workers to fix the roads. People who have four-wheelers and dirt bikes might like bumpy roads for ramps.

Conclusion

The problem is roads are not getting better. This is causing damage to automobiles and accidents. The benefits are cars don’t have to be in garages as much and less accidents also. So please fix the roads and keep it that way.

Sincerely,

Nathan Smoke