Cellphones have no place in classrooms

I don’t understand why students using cellphones in school is an issue. I have seen much local and national news coverage of this issue. The resolution is simple and does not require complicated debate: no cellphones during class. Use of these phones disrupts the learning process and should not be tolerated. If parents need to contact their kids during the school day, they can call the school office. This system seems to have worked well since the telephone was invented over 100 years ago.

— Robert Mills, Millers Island

Support supplemental oxygen reform

Imagine being unable to breathe. Your lungs can’t get enough oxygen from the surrounding air, requiring you to use supplemental oxygen. And you need even more oxygen to carry your oxygen device. The best solution is to go with the lightest weight device available that fits your needs. Instead, thanks to current law, many people who use supplemental oxygen can’t get oxygen devices that allow them to leave their homes for even a few hours at a time.

Congress has the opportunity to make life not just easier for the 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries on supplemental oxygen, but to give them back quality and quantity of life. Now is the time for members of Congress to become cosponsors to the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) bills (S. 3821/H.R. 7829).

My sister and I have a rare genetic lung disease called primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) which has caused extensive lung damage. My sister was 41, mom to a 4 and 1 year old, and working part-time when she started on supplemental oxygen. She called me in tears after her first delivery. She told the delivery driver there weren’t enough tanks to get her through work that week and he responded, “People on oxygen don’t work.”

She describes taking the kids out for ice cream one day, having one hand tied up with an 8-pound tank, while trying to hold on to her toddler’s hand and not having a hand available for her 4-year-old.

It didn’t have to be this way for her though. If she had a form of oxygen called liquid oxygen, she could have worn the oxygen in a small backpack and had both hands free to be with her children. The disappearance of liquid oxygen happened about a decade ago, as an unintended consequence of competitive bidding. This has affected all supplemental oxygen users regardless of age.

I’m asking every member of Congress to cosponsor the SOAR bill, especially my Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, and Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger. We shouldn’t be confined to our homes just because we need more oxygen than most people.

— Mary Kitlowski, Loch Hill

The writer is the president and founder of Running On Air.

Exasperated by high costs of parenthood

I was heartened to see the unbearable cost of raising children addressed in the Aug. 28 article Having a family is expensive. Here’s what Harris and Trump have said about easing costs.

My daughter was born almost 14 years ago, and my family is still recovering from the struggle of supporting a newborn, even after all this time.

Right before I found out I was pregnant, I was let go from my place of employment and lost my benefits and stable income. I couldn’t find a new job with the same pay and benefits I had before.

Once my daughter was born, instead of enjoying every moment of being new parents, my partner and I were stressed about our financial situation. I did not have a job to go back to and even if I did, we were faced with the reality that we couldn’t afford child care. I remember tirelessly googling childcare providers in the area and becoming exasperated at the costs; my paycheck would have gone to child care.

I remember feeling isolated and alone for being financially insecure. I asked myself, how am I supposed to be a good mother if I can’t even provide the basics for my child?

No mother should have to go through that stress at a time when they should be most joyful. I have come to understand this crisis as a failure of policy; a failure of our elected leaders to provide basic needs, such as paid family and medical leave. I am glad that unlike elections in the past, this crisis has become a major issue. I hope to see a day when no mother has to go through what I did.

— Iletha Joynes, Baltimore

I’m proud of Gus Walz

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that you looked into my soul and typed what I was thinking (Gus Walz has an ability, and it’s beautiful, Aug. 26).

I was totally impressed with the entire Democratic National Convention, but when Gus Walz stood up, crying, pointing and saying, “That’s my dad!” I totally lost it. I was so full of pride I was at a loss for words. And, as a parent, I was also so proud of Tim Walz for raising such an incredible young man. I was unaware of any “disabilities” that Gus may have — nor do they matter — it was the love and respect that a son has for his father that was the brightest light of the evening.

Thank you for your incredible writing. You hit the nail right on the head!

— Beth Shavitz, Randallstown