It is important that people who love Racine organize their thoughts and actions. I read the article "Two arrested after fights break out at North Beach Park" by Christine Won on June 15. In general, I was satisfied with the coverage by The Journal Times. I continued and read the blog; I was, to say the least, disappointed.

I am a third-year history teacher at Horlick High School. My mother is a retired RUSD teacher; my father is a retired Racine police officer. I find the venom spewed on blogs to be offensive and dangerous. While "swear words" are taken offline, other more offensive and dangerous comments are not. A few examples of dangerous comments include, "Youth genecide (sic), you gotta love it. At least they are doing it in a public place and not in some alley where they all scatter like rats," are left for everyone to digest. Another comment read, "Throw all those scum … monkeys in jail."

There are response comments that oppose these assertions, however, it is important to remember that hate has no place in dialogue. Hate has no place in constructive conversation and progress. People who work to spread hate and incite violence should be forced to create their own forums to convey their message. By allowing these comments to remain online, The Journal Times is stirring the pot. The Journal Times is a private corporation and has the right to exclude these hateful and incendiary comments. It is clear to me that hateful and intolerant speech does not contribute to any positive dialogue on issues of improving Racine schools, parks and general living conditions.

The incident that was covered in the article was unfortunate. Over 500 high school students from the Racine area schools celebrated the ending of the school year by a having a party at the park. A DJ played music and free hotdogs, hamburgers, and chips were served to all in attendance. Nearly every student was peaceful and orderly. It seems that only a handful of students were looking for trouble.

It is essential that we not paint the youth of Racine with the brush of a few bad moments. As it is important that we look closely at keeping our children safe, it is just as important to highlight the positive and encourage their good behavior. It is important, in moving forward as community, that we also talk about the hundreds of high school students that had a responsible and fun time. We need to look at our youth from a positive angle.

The police decision to close the park was in part motivated by their fear that there was a potential for students getting out of control and a need to avert that situation from occurring. Their actions are understandable. The community must come together and support these events to help avoid a situation where the police feel like they must disperse a large crowd of students for the negative actions of a few people. We need to come together to support this end-of-the-school-year celebration and allow police to deal with isolated incidents rather than putting them in a position of general security.

The youth need to be embraced, guided, and seen as our jewels, not be viewed as a problem. By doing so, we are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our kids will be less than what we are. If the youth have determined that North Beach is where they wish to celebrate the ending of the school year, then we as a community need to support them. City and district officials need to work with the departments and the community to create safe and fun activities for them at the beach on that day. We as people who love Racine need to come together for our children.

Aaron Eick is a third-year teacher at Horlick High School. He has helped organize and plan the end-of-the-school-year party in the past.

Editor's note: The North Beach story on JournalTimes.com drew 110 comments. Six comments, including one of those cited by Eick, were removed and we cautioned writers about personal attacks or use of foul language. Our editors monitor our Web site and readers are encouraged to report inappropriate comments. We try to encourage a free-ranging dialogue on news stories that are of interest to our readers.