Editor, The Smithfield Times:

Years ago, my daughter, Linda Lyons, was on WHRO with her three teammates competing on “Tidewater Challenge.” It was a program that has now been renamed “Battle of the Brains,” which is on Channel 3 each Saturday at 10 in the morning. I am happy to see this program is still on the air!

My daughter was always on the Honor Roll at Smithfield High School, and all through school, in fact. She was bullied by children in her schools when attending Poquoson’s system due to not being in sports or for the simple fact that she wasn’t good at throwing balls, etc., but I was proud of her for using her brains and being intelligent.  

Too much attention is put on sports today, and it does not add to a child’s creativity, which is far more important, for people who are creative go on to improve the world with new ideas to help others, to invent things to make our world a better place to live for all of us.

Today, my daughter is a veterinarian in Richmond and also works in a clinic in Hopewell and I am proud of her. The bullying she received in school for being an intelligent person was mean and hateful, which even involved obscene phone calls by some boy in Poquoson before we moved here.

Urge your child to use their brains instead of falling back on some sport. Asian children are way ahead of children in America in education. That is sad! I taught my children how to read before they even entered school. To this day, my children are excellent writers and my daughter loves books and reading as I do.

My heroes are not in sports, but those who make a difference in the world for all of us.

 

Linda Gould Steffey

Carrollton