Parents have final say on visitation

To the editor:In regard to the letter by Darrel Adams concerning the rights of grandparents, I must issue a response. Grandparents are not parents and should have no visitation rights whatsoever in normal situations. If both parents agree that staying away from the grandparents is in the best interest of the child, that should be their private decision. The last time I checked we live in America, in which parents, not courts, decide when and if children can visit anyone who is not a parent. I think grandparents are wonderful, and my children spend time with their grandparents every month, sometimes every week. However, it should still be the parent's right to control such visits and not the courts or the grandparents, plain and simple.

JONATHAN E.U. THOMASSON Sr., Cape Girardeau