Along with law enforcement, the Department of Social Services and mental health, I participated in the evaluation, investigation and at times prosecution of hundreds of cases of alleged, and actual, child abuse — physical, psychological and sexual. It was a difficult but necessary job.

So I was pretty disgusted but not really surprised when our local congressman, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, publicly denounced people who advocated that school children wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19. He declared they were guilty of child abuse.

I believe I know a lot more than this inexperienced young man about child abuse. There may be legitimate questions about the usefulness, safety and comfort of mask wearing for school children. But, Mr. Cawthorn owes an immediate apology to the members of the Haywood County, Henderson County and Swain County school boards and all the other public officials who have made the difficult decision to move forward with masks mandates. 

Issues like masks and vaccinations should be discussed with decency, drawing upon current verifiable medical knowledge. Dragging the discussion into the gutter is unworthy of any public official. 

In Mr. Cawthorn’s recent letter to The Mountaineer, he condemned a letter writer for criticizing his response to the terrible flooding in Haywood County. I agree that now is the time to pull together and help our neighbors and not make political attacks. This means we pull together whether it’s dealing with the floods or combatting the pandemic. Child abuse is a terrible problem in our society. Accusing public figures of child abuse for considering a mask requirement is a new low. Child abuse is not an issue to misuse for making political statements to score cheap media headlines. 

Steve Wall

Waynesville