Aloha mai kākou,

I’m so heartbroken having to write this letter, but enough is enough.  We are continuously subjected to something that is turning our own people against each other.  Our voices need to be heard.

Our keiki are so precious and so innocent.  No home is perfect, some come from amazing families, and some come from less fortunate.  However, who is to say what the child is going through?  Our keiki seek avenues and adapt to something that makes them feel comfortable in hopes of finding something that will define who they are.  This is often the breaking point of a child hoping to be someone and/or become something.

For example, our keiki turn to sports as their alternate escape route.  You’re stripping away something that might be their only saving grace.  They wait their entire life to do something that could get them somewhere.  Scholarships are often depended on how they play.  Now you are giving them an ultimatum?  

Who in their right might makes these absurd decisions?  When crime, drugs, and suicide spike amongst our keiki, I would not be able to sleep at night knowing we could have been a voice to make a difference.  We are crying for you to hear us.

I am not for or against anything but doing the right thing.  However, what you are doing is equivalent to you handing a pipe to a recovering addict and saying here “smoke this!”  I have never been robbed, but if this is what it feels like, I do not wish this feeling upon anyone.  Please, please, please- do the right thing.  Let our keiki play!

Mahalo!