Stop saying 'it's a dry heat.' It's time we took Arizona summers more seriously
Arizona’s 2023 summer was grim, according to AP News, and the toll of heat-related deaths “topped 900 statewide last year.” We should be grateful that efforts are being made to prevent these deaths.
However, I think one factor is not being focused on enough, namely, how Arizonans undermine the severity of the heat. For one, playfully — too playfully, in fact — they say of the intense weather, with a shrug, “It’s a dry heat.” The problem is, it is still a strong heat, still ominous, still dangerous.
Others say, nonchalantly, that they themselves have nothing to fear. Of the heat, they say, “I am used to it,” as if having been here long enough creates resistance to the heat.
It doesn’t.
Please, my fellow Arizonans, take the heat seriously. Stay cool wherever you can and however you can. Help the vulnerable, like the homeless.
Nobody deserves to suffer.
Ruben Martinez Garcia, Tolleson
Try this, students, before protesting
Students, young adults and people in general should have the right to protest peacefully. They also have the responsibility to understand what they are protesting for and against.
But before protesting they should try negotiating. If that fails, protest, and try staying within whatever rules are laid down. Authority, however, often has unreasonably restricted rules that must be broken for protest to be effective.
Still, protests should not be violent, and until they are, authority should not punish protesters.
John Eakins, Sun City West
TikTok is no different than Facebook
As a member of generation Z, I have grown up making videos and posting online. I have grown up alongside the popularity of social media.
Social media is a common way to unwind after a long day. I’m sure many can relate when I say we catch ourselves in a scrolling hole many times a day.
But that might change as TikTok is under the spotlight once again. Headlines mainstream President Biden’s signing of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” to protect our personal information.
I suppose the opinions on this topic differ, but TikTok to me is just entertainment, equivalent to other apps, such as Instagram and Facebook.
Why aren’t these apps getting the same attention as TikTok? I have noticed me or a family member talking about a subject and then getting ads about it on Facebook or Instagram. Almost like they are listening in. Why doesn’t this raise concern?
Is it really just because TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance? I think social media plays a big role in the world today, but it’s almost unfair to be threatening this one app when similar American-owned apps are doing the same thing.
Morgan Epley, Peoria
Homelessness is a crisis, not a crime
The Johnson vs. Grants Pass Supreme Court case could allow municipalities to criminalize homelessness by making it illegal to sleep in public areas. I hope that this sounds as ridiculous to you as it does to me.
How can a law prevent people who have no other place to go from sleeping, which is an action as uncontrollable and necessary as breathing?
I flew out to D.C. from Arizona to attend the case’s press conference in front of the SCOTUS and learned a valuable (if not obvious) thing. The solution to homelessness is simple: housing.
Not fines. Not jails.
Rising rents, stagnant wages, domestic abuse and discrimination have created a system in which it is devastatingly easy to be left homeless.
As a young person, I have an incredible sense of hope for my future, but accompanying this hope is fear. In five years, I see myself graduating college with a job I am passionate about, but what if life gets in the way, as it inevitably does?
Homelessness comes easily in our country, but it’s a crisis, not a crime. So, why are we treating it like one?
Corinne Ladha, Phoenix
Schools should teach us life skills
I am a student who is currently attending Sunrise Mountain High School in Arizona, and I am in support of adding life skills education to our school curriculum.
It is true that academic subjects are important. Practical skills such as time management, financial literacy and interpersonal communication are also very critical when it comes to being successful in the outside world.
If we include life skills education in our curriculum, we will be building a better and smarter future.
Karson Ashing, Phoenix
What’s on your mind? Send us a letter to the editor online or via email at opinions@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona heat is deadly, and we don't take it seriously enough
