Children and Virus
Dear Editor: Gunalcheesh to the Sitka Sentinel! The whole Sitka Sentinel staff are working really hard during extreme conditions to do what they do, provide local and national news every day as soon as it happens. I look forward to connecting every day with our community news especially.
As a community we have many wonderful people who are working hard under tough circumstances to keep our community safe. Thank you to our Assembly for our mask mandate! Gunalcheesh to our School Board for offering testing at school and all the teachers and administrators that are encouraging our children to wear masks during this extremely infectious Omicron surge. Gunalcheesh to all our parents that have gotten their children vaccinated ahead of this current surge!
I am prompted to write this letter because of the article “Hospitalization Soars for Kids Under Age Five” in the Sitka Sentinel, Jan. 7, 2022. Since we still do not have vaccinations for this youngest group (4 and under), the article explained the best way to keep them safe was to vaccinate the older children in the family and community. That makes sense. Many parents are expanding their “COVID bubble” to include other vaccinated families but they are including masks in that expansion which also makes sense.
One statement in that article made my blood run cold. “A separate CDC report found that children who had COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes!” ??? This totally got my attention! Twice as likely is big! This is new information that we did not have before. I quickly went to verify this statement and found it was just published (gunalcheesh, Sitka Sentinel). This is where a parent who has been slow on getting their children vaccinated realizes that all the side effects of their children getting this disease are not yet known. As the long-term effects are discovered, we are either going to be so glad that we got our children vaccinated as soon as it was possible, or we are going to be full of regret as we have to help our children navigate their way through diabetes. The article also listed diabetic symptoms parents need to be on the lookout for. I know a lot of children in Sitka have gotten diabetes and many that have gotten it more than once. My next question is, “Does the chances of my child getting diabetes INCREASE with each time my child gets COVID?” Only time can reveal that information. They called this omicron surge a “tsunami for the un-vaccinated.” My 13-year-old granddaughter just got her booster and my other three grandchildren (younger than 12) will get their booster when they are available. I feel so grateful for these vaccines for my grandchildren and I urge all parents to protect all their younger children by vaccinating their older children. Remember they have to wait for two weeks after the vaccine to give time for the immune response to kick in.
With this highly contagious variant we need to beef up the quality of the masks. The virus is weakening, we just have to ride it out. When we get our vaccinations, and avoid getting the latest variant, we are reducing the ability of the virus to replicate and that is the solution to bringing it under control. Gunalcheesh to all our healthcare workers who are always there for us no matter what.
Patricia Dick, Sitka
Cyberstalking
Dear Editor: January is Stalking Awareness Month. Cyberstalking is a rather new form of stalking and refers to the use of the internet and other technologies to harass another person online. SAFV is working to build community awareness about this critical issue impacting four out of 10 Americans, according to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center. This online harassment can take the form of emails, text messages, social media posts, and more, and is often methodical, deliberate, and persistent.
Most of the time, the interactions do not end if the recipient asks the person to stop. The content directed at the target is often inappropriate or disturbing, which can leave the person feeling fearful, distressed, anxious and worried.
Similar to other forms of abuse, those who engage in cyberstalking use a variety of tactics and techniques to harass, humiliate, intimidate, and control their targets. Here are some examples of things people who cyberstalk might do:
–Post rude, offensive, or suggestive comments online;
–Follow the target online by joining the same groups and forums;
–Send threatening, controlling, or lewd messages or emails to the target;
–Create fake accounts to follow the target on social media;
–Hack into or hijack the target’s online accounts;
–Attempt to extort sex or explicit photos;
–Send unwanted gifts or items to the target;
–Release confidential information online;
–Post or distribute real or fake photos of the target;
–Bombard the target with sexually explicit photos of themselves;
–Create fake posts designed to shame the victim;
–Track the target’s online movements by installing tracking devices;
–Hack into the target’s camera on their laptop or smartphone as a way to secretly record them.
Anyone who is experiencing cyberstalking and wants to talk to a SAFV advocate may do so by calling 907-747-3370 or texting 907-634-7820. You might use the phone of a friend if you suspect being tracked by a cyberstalker. To find more information on cyberstalking, go to our source, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cyberstalking-5181466. We will share another letter this month on what you can do if you or someone you know is the target of a cyberstalker.
Martina Kurzer for
Sitkans Against Family Violence
