Letters to the editor April 27

Change needed in Columbia Falls

I have only recently met Megan Upton.

Megan is fundamentally dedicated to protecting children and the rights of their parents. She is a conservative woman of faith, a small-business owner, a mother of a high school freshman and a daughter who graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 2022.

She attended School District 6, K-12 and graduated in 1999. She regularly attends and makes respectful, constructive comments on important issues at the monthly meeting of the school board trustees. She has found that these comments are mostly ignored.

She is a leader who embraces the personal virtues of love, joy, peace, patience kindness and self-control. As a business owner she has learned to be prompt and detail oriented. She values a commitment to duty, truth, courtesy, dependability, protecting the weak and disadvantaged, civic duty, honor and integrity.

She is committed to finding solutions to the myriad challenges affecting students and parents in the Brave New World of ever changing standards and moral fluidity.

She has never held elective office. She is not beholden to any pressure group including the educational establishment. She is beholden to her core values and believes that through her communication skills, and by keeping an open mind, she can affect a positive influence on the board. In addition, she will bring a new energy to the board. Her innovative ideas and enthusiasm will be a welcome addition to School District 6.

The current board appears resigned to accept the status quo, is lacking in fresh ideas and does not have the courage to resist unproven educational fads and curriculums.

Megan Upton is the much-needed change that will make a positive difference for Columbia Fall’s students, parents, administrators and the Columbia Falls community.

— Jim Riley, Kalispell

TikTok ban

In addition to answering the question how our state intends to contain TikTok outside Montana’s borders, there are numerous other questions that our politicians need to address.

For example, should government have the right to determine what individual citizens view on social media? Is the banning of TikTok an infringement on the individual rights of citizens? How is any political propaganda on TikTok more of a threat to our democracy than the current deepfakes and half-truths in political advertising viewed on other social media?

One reason given for banning TikTok is to protect our children, but isn’t what our children watch on social media really a parent responsibility? Isn’t our state government infringing on the rights of parents by making the decision for parents what their children watch?

Finally, how much of our taxpayer money has been set aside to defend the ban against lawsuits? Hopefully our politicians will provide some answers.

— Jim Swab, Kalispell