Regarding “Big Tech says constant connection will foster empathy. It won’t” (Open Forum, SFChronicle.com, Oct. 22): I live in a close-knit neighborhood behind a middle school in San Leandro. Often on evenings and weekends, I would hear and see children out riding bikes and scooters, swinging on a sidewalk tree swing or racing radio-controlled cars. Their dads always supervised their play and even created a large sign with flags that read, SLOW DOWN, KIDS @ PLAY.
Then something suddenly changed. I no longer heard the excited voices of children at play nor did I hear the dad alerts of “car coming, car coming.” The street was eerily quiet.
At first, I thought my neighbors were on vacation. They were not.
I asked one mom why the kids no longer played outside. Turns out that one kid received a virtual reality headset and now spends much of his time playing inside his house. The other kids, who are siblings, miss playing with their friend and now play inside their house or backyard.
Our street no longer has a need for that SLOW DOWN, KIDS @ PLAY sign. One virtual reality headset changed the dynamics of childhood play within a few weeks. Is this what building human connection looks like?
Susan Hupp, San Leandro
Create social housing
Regarding “Newsom signed over 60 housing bills this year. Here’s how they’re going to change California” (Letters to the Editor, SFChronicle.com, Oct. 24): Alfred Twu’s op-ed highlights some bills that, Twu argues, give California the potential to “turn the corner on the housing crisis.” However, Twu omits one bold housing bill that targets the market-driven housing system as a whole.
SB555, the Stable Affordable Housing Act, authored by state Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, introduces the idea of “social housing” to California.
By studying different models of social housing and bringing recommendations to the Legislature, it aims to create “a robust sector of social housing that offers below-market rents affordable to households of all income levels who are unable to afford market rents and that is permanently shielded from the speculative market.”
As long as return on investment is the deciding factor in what housing gets built where and who can — and can’t — afford to live in it, we will never turn the corner on the crisis.
SB555 sets us on the path to a future in which public and nonprofit ownership of housing for all can become a reality here as it is in so many places in the world.
Richard Marcantonio, San Francisco
Reinstate Roe
Regarding “Here’s how much abortions have increased in California post-Dobbs” (Joe Garofoli, SFChronicle.com, Oct. 25): The results of the reversal of Roe v. Wade are no surprise.
Overall, abortions in the United States were declining gradually for decades until the Dobbs decision. Women have always sought the care they need, too often at great risk to themselves, and putting legal, financial and travel obstacles in their way only leads to higher risks to them and even later-term abortions.
When will the failures of making abortion illegal convince anti-choice advocates to join in providing universal free contraception, reality-based sex education and, yes, access to full reproductive health services as the proven path to reducing unwanted pregnancy and abortion?
I’m not holding my breath, but one can dream.
Steve Heilig, San Francisco
Keep a gun death count
Tragedies resulting from guns have become so common that we have grown inured to them.
In each case, the immediate, momentary shock and outrage fade until the next mass shooting occurs. Each terrible tragedy tends to be viewed in isolation, even though some reports list a few prior mass shootings.
If print and broadcast media prominently presented the cumulative death toll on a daily basis, our shock no longer would be allowed to wane.
Every day of every week, 52 weeks a year, the news media informs us of the weather, stock market performance and other matters that impact our collective society. Perhaps the media should maintain a year-to-date tally of deaths resulting from guns.
Sometimes in-your-face reminders are necessary.
Trish Taylor, Redwood City
