Trending
Dear Editor:
Police Chief John Lane needs thanked for his articulate and spot-on interview with NPR relating to the drug overdose photo. He perfectly expressed the challenges he and his officers face on a daily basis.
(If you have not heard this interview, go to www.npr.org/2016/09/12/493654929/ohio-police-release-photos-of-couple-who-overdosed-in-car-with-child.)
And I commend the decision to publish the photograph. As far as blurring the child’s photo, the most unfortunate part of this situation is, without doubt, that this precious child was in the car at the time of the overdosing. It is heartbreaking.
But this photo, and this child, are what will bring changes. Throughout history, distressing photographs of children have impacted and brought about changes in society – Nick Ut’s 1972 photograph of the 9-year-old “Napalm Girl,” Dorothea Lange’s “Damaged Child” from the American depression, Lewis Hines’ photos of children working in cotton mills. These photographs were catalysts for nationwide concern and change. What impact, and how would they have changed the world, with their faces blurred?
We can only hope that this child’s photo will help us focus on the real issue at hand – a drug issue of epidemic proportion.
I read, just today, that several politicians are planning trips to our area in regard to the drug situation we face. Without the national attention to this photo, would they be coming? Perhaps this is the start of a greater government awareness and concern, and hopefully, help in the future.
Dorothea Smith
East Liverpool