I saw [a recent advertisement] for back to school sales for alcohol published in the Hopkinton newspaper and was wondering why you published it. Every single month there are groups in Hopkinton trying to prevent substance abuse while this ad just encourages it. Back to school is not a holiday where people drink, it’s when kids go back to school.

Speaking [as] a kid who does read the newspaper, you should consider what you put in the [paper] and make sure it’s appropriate for every age group. Alcohol can do many bad things to people’s bodies, and it’s not a good thing for people to normalize drinking, especially in front of kids. As a young person myself, I don’t want my generation or the generations to come to experience drinking as normal.

So, it would be very kind of you to next time remove any ads promoting alcohol use in the newspaper. The Hopkinton newspaper is a lovely place to learn what’s going on in the community, not where to buy alcohol.

— Neha Ninan, Hopkinton

Publisher’s note: This issue recently was discussed by the Hopkinton Independent management team, and it was agreed that the text should have been worded differently to avoid any impression that an alcohol ad was targeting underage students. The Independent will work with advertisers to prevent this from happening in the future.

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