A school should be a place where a child can make a mistake, be corrected, take responsibility for that mistake, learn from it, and carry on with his life. The health and safety not just of individual students but of our society as a whole depends on it.

“We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled,” the banker said. “It’s a new dawn.” We see it rather as dusk — and darkness will prevail if not just our schools, where students learn lifelong values, but each of us as a human being does not make an effort to see and respect our differences while acknowledging our common humanity.

We commend the Guilderland school district for being aware of and trying to meet the needs of all of the children it serves and we encourage families to use those five playgrounds when school is not in session. But we urge the town to create an inclusive playground, perhaps at the centrally located Tawasentha Park, that would serve as a magnet for children of all abilities to play together.