To the Editor:

Re “9 Last-Minute Valentine’s Day Ideas” (nytimes.com, Feb. 11):

Valentine’s Day is a day scarred for us all. It marks our collective failure to do our most basic duty: protect our children. It is impossible to go through this day with stuffed bears, chocolates and improv comedy when 17 beautiful lives were taken away on Valentine’s Day last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

We have failed to protect our children’s lives, time and time again. We failed those children in Parkland. We failed the 20 precious young lives in Sandy Hook. We failed the 12 beloved teenagers in Columbine. They will never send a Candygram or get a love letter from a high school crush. They will never have a little son or daughter hand them a homemade, heart-shaped card with scrawlings of love.

Valentine’s Day is a time for activism, for us to do our basic duty of forcing our leaders, our businesses and ourselves to enact laws that stop children from being murdered. Improve campus safety. Strengthen mental health supports and screenings. Enact responsible firearms laws.

Then, and only then, can any of us enjoy a happy Valentine's Day again.

Jessica Kurzban
Los Angeles

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