Five Towns Letter to the Editor

Language use is important

To the Editor:

I am writing to inform people about the painful situation I face every day in school. As a child of adoption, I am disappointed and saddened to see the larger-than-life “Adopt-A-Chair” campaign that hangs in the main hallway of Hewlett High School.
Such a careless use of the word adopt suggests that adoption is a short-term commitment of money and not a lifelong commitment of love between parents and their children.

Adoption is not sponsorship. For those of us who have been adopted, we know that adoption is forever, and it hurts when our family is compared to a chair, highway, garbage pail and much more.

We also know that an “adopt-a” campaign contributes to the ignorance among our peers. I cannot begin to tell you the countless times my fellow classmates have said “I’m sorry” after I informed them that I was adopted. If you think I am just being oversensitive let me stress that language is important.

The way we describe things such as adoption tells us how society really feels. While I do not believe that the people of the Hewlett-Woodmere School District are deliberately trying to misuse the word or insult anyone, I do believe it is a matter of being under-educated when it comes to the matter of adoption.

It is my hope that this letter will not only educate but also encourage a change in our community. Please voice your opinion on this issue to the school district.

Emily Hurtado
Hewlett High senior