This is the letter that I wrote to the editor of the SW Record.

Dear Editor,
This is a letter to the Whidbey Community regarding the controversial closing act of the Youth in Arts week performances. I am the high school student that performed my original composition, mentioned above. I would like to address some of the points in the article published on May 12, 2007.
Please note that this letter was written before the letter in Wednesday's (5/16/07) paper entitled "Student should be held accountable" and IS NOT a response. This is a letter that I have been working on for about a week beforehand.
Originally, I was scheduled to perform on Monday, the High School night. Unfortunately, both the High School and Middle School canceled their performances, leaving Thursday, the Primary and Intermediate Schools’ open mic night, as the last available spot to perform. So, I performed that evening. In hind sight everyone involved, myself included, realized that it would have been better for me to perform my song on the High School night.
I am sincerely sorry to those parents who did not and do not want their kids exposed to the kind of message portrayed by my song.
That said, I feel that my song was very misunderstood. It is not an anti-war song, it is a peace song. I am not opposed to military but I am strongly opposed to myself or others hurting fellow human beings. The song is not anti-military but more tells the story of what we as humans are actually doing to each other. The title of the song, “I’m Sorry”, suggests and is an apology. It is an apology to all people, in every country, who have lost lives, family members, homes, property, and financial resources, both public and personal because of war, including military families.
I was quite surprised and hurt at the amount of anger and hatred that has been directed at me – especially given that the song that I performed was essentially about peace and love.
I hope you can understand my thoughts and accept my apology.
Sincerely from
Ahren Bader-Jarvis