CHILDREN UNCHAINED

What really disturbs me is that Cathleen Miller’s opinion is so clearly indicative of how it has become so vogue lately to not only go childless, but to hate children altogether (Calendar Letters, Jan. 18).

For years I have been chastised by those same people for letting my kids watch too much television and eat too much fast food.

Yet the minute I try to expose them to the finer things that life has to offer (e.g., a movie, play, or good dinner out), I am confronted with snide waiters who seat me in the back, tight-lipped patrons of the arts (who, incidentally, would perhaps get more of their money’s worth had they not spent so much time and effort giving me and my children icy stares) and otherwise normal enough people who suddenly act as if I were toting a bagful of infectious diseases around with me instead of two perfectly harmless-looking children.

My kids don’t scream and whine during public performances of any kind. They do, however, ask questions, which is just what I would expect from young, inquisitive minds. And that’s the way I want it.

We can do this two ways: I can bring my children out with me, and let them see firsthand the beauty and excitement of living, or I can leave them home to watch “Dukes of Hazzard” and let them grow up to be stupid, narrow-minded, single-purposed individuals.

What kind of television did Miller watch when she was young?

SUSAN M. BROOKS

Canoga Park