Middle School student helps lobby for child welfare law

BY GARY SIMEONE

Cooper Bromberg, an eighth grader at the Middle School, is a precocious young man, who has been active in the political community. On January 30th, he spent the day in Albany, lobbying at the state capitol, to update a law intended to protect children from domestic violence.

The law in question is known as Kyra’s Law, which came about as a result of the death of two-year old Kyra Franchetti, who died at the hands of her father in 2016.

Jacqueline Franchetti, Kyra’s mother and founder of the Kyra’s Champions Foundation, said she was grateful for Cooper and other teenagers who lobbied on behalf of her organization.

“Kyra’s Champions is an organization that is by kids and for kids. We give college, middle and high school students the opportunity to become global citizens and impact the world they are preparing to enter,” said Franchetti. “Cooper did a good job of showcasing what our organization is all about. He advocated brilliantly for his peers to create lasting change and demanded the immediate passage of Kyra’s law.”

Cooper said that the January trip was his first time in Albany, and he was happy to be there as part of the Kyra’s Champions Student Advocacy program.

“During the press conference, I along with other members of the program, stood up and spoke about other children who were failed by New York States divorce and family court system,” said Bromberg. “I shared with the delegation stories of kids who had been killed by their mom or dad during custody cases, like Kyra’s and more recently the Thomas Valva case. It was really cool to see all of the organizations come together to support Kyra’s Law.”

He said that after the press conference was over, he went to additional meetings with state senators, assemblyman and other political figures.

“They were all very respectful to me and interested in hearing about the different components of the law.”

Cooper said that became interested in the law after his mom, Laura, showed him a picture of Kyra and explained what had happened to her.

“I could not believe that a parent could do something so horrible to their own child. I consider myself lucky to have two wonderful parents who went through an amicable divorce.

Sadly, I know now from our advocacy work that not all divorces end up like this. That is why I think it’s really important to change the courts, because our state’s divorce and family court system obviously does not work.”

The precocious middle schooler said while he was in Albany, he enjoyed walking the halls of the State Capitol building, and seeing how the entire governmental system runs.

”I enjoyed being there with my mom and other high school students who are part of the student advocacy program. I really liked meeting many different people who are involved in running our government and seeing how a bill becomes a law.”

Cooper is an active student who is the goalie of the boy’s lacrosse team as well as on the school’s football and wrestling teams. He is also a volunteer’Best Buddy,’ helping students with disabilities.

To learn more about Kyra’s Law, you can visit the website kyraschampions. org.