Nancy Bommelman, Minot

We all talk about bullying in the school system. Which is wrong from the word go. Even as adults I see bullying going on.

Having a loved one who has an addiction is hard enough without people in this community looking down on me as if I have a scarlet letter on me. We are good parents, no great parents still are, just because a loved one makes mistakes the parents shouldn’t be judged.

I know parents who have gotten DUI’s , I don’t judge the wife if the husband gets a DUI, nor do I judge the husband. When you have a child who has an addiction, whether or not it’s drugs or alcohol the parents shouldn’t be judged by actions of their loved ones.

Unless people know what it’s like to have a loved one that is an addict they shouldn’t judge.

We try and teach our children not to be bullies in school, yet we have adults who continue to say hurtful things to others, because something their loved one who is an addict has done.

I’m going to live my life with my head held high regardless of what people say or think of me.

When your child leaves your home you can’t control what he or she does. No matter what it is, life is about choices and sometimes our loved ones make bad decisions. We can’t turn back the clock and change anything. I just hope nobody else has to go through this, but I know other people will.

I have had people say hurtful hateful awful things to me because of my loved one being an addict.

I told these people “he who is without sin cast the first stone, “ nobody reading this can throw a pebble.

Everybody is so concerned about people who have lost loved ones with the drug crisis and alcohol crisis, and I agree people should feel bad for them , but what about the people who have loved ones who are incarcerated who are left behind to deal with the aftermath, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers? So many people are being hurt and dying over all of these addictions we lose hope .

Please try not to judge people by the actions of their loved ones.

Being a bully also can come from what the children learn from their parents.