NEWSDAY Letters: A teen's killing and those who saw it

Published version — Newsday Opinion Letters, October 1, 2019.

As a life coach with an education in psychology and trauma recovery, I am appalled to read insensitive criticisms of teens who only stood by or used video recorders instead of intervening to stop the stabbing death of Oceanside teen Khassen Morris. Others criticize students who heard about plans for the fight and failed to tell parents, teachers or police ["Teens should have told about fight plan," Letters, Sept. 24].

Such opinions reflect ignorance about human reactions to traumatic events or failure to understand that students feel pressure to keep quiet for fear of being accused of betraying peers or being labeled tattletales. Sure, we're aware of people who have pushed through fears and their instinct for self preservation to help potential victims. But these are exceptions. That's why we call them heroes.

Heaping guilt on fragile teens who had the misfortune to witness a brutal killing is unconscionable.

The killing of Morris is yet another senseless violent crime. I'm sure that a solution involves understanding the reasons behind growing epidemics of loneliness, hatred and mental illness. I believe there is an overreliance on heroes to save the day, and it misses the mark to blame unfortunate bystanders. Rather, the responsibility is all of ours!

— Burton M. Fischler, Oceanside