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I teach at a very exclusive private school in Westchester. We recently had a scandal in which our elementary school students, during a gathering, were watching pornography on their iPhones. These were the kids of bankers, academics, doctors, lawyers, and statesmen.

All kids display anti-social behavior and test boundaries, this is what kids do. We just have a blind spot to our own (white, middle class) children. If this scandal had happened in another context, it would be an example of how dangerous other schools are, and how our own children need protecting.

Many Riverdale residents seem to forget they live in New York City, which is a racially, religiously, and economically diverse place. We also struggle to square our political ideals (supplanting equality) with our actions (Not In My Back Yard). I'm sure many also support De Blasio whose agenda includes educational equality. If people are looking for a homogenous, middle class, sleepy city, there are many suburbs in NY, NJ and CT which are much more affordable than Riverdale. But here, their kids will be exposed to hard drugs, opioid problems, dysfunctional families, and sexual assault with no consequence (remember, Brock Turner was a middle class, white, Stanford student). We need to come to terms with where will live and what our true beliefs are, or we will continue to face these issues over and over again.

My only concern was traffic, as I like how "semi-suburban" Riverdale is. However, I realize this may change, as it's part of city life. If, as deborah claims, the students will take public transportation, then I have no issue with the move (other than how callous RJC is in their sentiments and ignores that they are a part of our community). We already have kids at RKA who are from outside our neighborhood, and frankly, the only problem children I encounter are the preppy Manhattan College students who drunkenly wander into our neighborhood in the middle of the night.

We live in Riverdale, in the Bronx, in NYC. No matter what your realtor told you, this isn't Scarsdale. My kids will encounter many kinds of diverse people, but probably won't develop a heroin problem or a sense of entitlement. As a parent and teacher, I couldn't be happier about this.