Page 4, The Herald, Monday, January 26, 1981

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Published by
Sterling Publishers

A house wife’s views on

Dear Members of the
School Board

Thank you for your in-
vitation for “input” on the
draft of the proposed sex
education program.

Eighteen months ago,
Doctor Kobierski became
concerned and alarmed
about the growing number
of teenagers coming to her
* for abortions, In
questioning some of these
girls she found that they,
did not have an adequate
knowledge of birth control
methods; at least this is
what. they claimed.
Eventually this problem
was presented to the school
board. After much
struggling and lengthy
deliberation, the school
board has presented for our
approval a draft of a sex
education program. It isa
thorough and com-

lurge parents to read the
draft which iz available at
the schools, and to

carefully consider - these .

be heard at this time. It is
our children who will be
taught. These are our
schools, which we unitedy
provide with our taxes. We
pay the teachers and the
school board. This is our
decision.

Parents, I want you to
know what is being said
about ul. Doctors,
teachers, and school board
trustees all agree 100 per
cent that sex education is
best handled at bome.
“But,” they pay “the asd
truth is most parents
imply aren't doing the
job.” They don't claim
that a few of us aren't; they
claim that most of us
aren't. Every parent I
have talked to agrees, ‘you
and I teach our children,
but they (the majority)
don’t." Is that really tree?
In all fairness 1 must
confess that I have never

.méet one of those parents
who didn't care and didn't
try to teach their children.
But if it is really true that
most parents can't be
bothered to teach their
ehildren about something
as important as sex, if, in
fact they don’t care enough
to find out what the school
teaches them - what can we
hope for the children? The
problems we are et-
pertencing with our
" teenagera it would seem, is
act a0 much lack of
knowledge, as it is lack of

board drew up a program
which would try to make up
for the neglect of parents.
Teachers, though they
freely admit sex education
would be more effective if
taught in the home, will try
to implement the program
because of parental
default. Now we can ap-
preciate Doctor Koblerski
who cared enough to push
for a solution. We can
appreciate the scheol
board who conscientiouly
formulated a program, and
we can appreciate the
teachers who are willing to

do their beat with it; but

- What can we say for the

parents who ait back
without concern or com-
ment? We must ask our-
selves if the proposed
solution will do any good.
Will all the knowledge in
the world help a teenager

whose parents donot care? .

Letting the schools take the
blame and accept the

responsibility for this

problem is a balm for the
conscience of parents and
at best a “cop oul’?

The identified problem Is
that homes are weak and
parents apathetic. We
have chosen a solution that,
through the years will
weaken the influence of the
home and make parents
‘more apathetic. We must
remember that there’ is
absolutely no evidence that

‘ g@ comprehensive sex

education program taught
through the schools, em-
phasizing contraception,
will effectively reduce the
number of teenage
ie and abortions.

It would be a nice, easy
solution if it would work.
Do you really think it will?
No matter how con-

- scientously they try, our
seducators cannot take the:
Place of good parents. As..

parents, weare responsible
for the problem Doctor
Kobierski identified. We
are the only ones who can
effectively do something
about it.

Sex education in the
schools is nat something
new. It has been around
for many years. Clarence
Michael for example, has
been showing sex
education films for nine
years. Many schools
throughout the province
have been doing this. If
parents were ever asked
for their opinion on the
matter, other than for their
own children, 1 missed it,.
So the wedge began many
years ago; but it didn't
solve any problems.
Semal activity and sexual
irresponsibility among
teenagers has increased
yearly. Now a more
comprehensive program
with an emphasis on
contraception is seen az the
answer, Thus continues
the gradual] shift of
responsibility from the
home to the school. Al first
the program was instituted
toreach the minority group
of children who were being
taught nothing at home.
Now the majority of
parents rely on it. A
society that cannot depend
on the home, but must
institutionalize the raising
of ite chikiren is in a sad
stale of affaires. There have
been other societies who
felt this way - who fell that
the institution could do a
better job than the home.
The Nazis felt that way..
So do the communists.

My husband and I have
viewed many of the sex
education films. We have
read the new draft, We find
nothing in the content

cepted, we will continue to
exercise our option in
keeping our children out of

parents who object to the
school’s sez education
Program do not object to
content - they object to the

OVER

method. We feel that group
and = institutionalized
teaching of sex without
moral values is strictly
second rate, and a very
ineHlective way of helping
our youth cope. When the
film says‘you are special’,

who believes it? We want
our children to have the
knowledge and we provide
it for them at home. We
believe that by taking this
course of action we are
saying to our children that
sex is something important
and special, We believe our
actions are also telling our
children that they are
important and special to
us, important enough for us

to sit down on a one-to-one’

basis and share with them
our knowledge and feelings
about something which will
be very important to them.
We don't want to leave to
others the responsibilty
that our children will
develop wholesome at-
titles towards sex. We

believe that by keeping our —

children from participating
in the sex education
program that we are also
saying to the school, ‘you

- have no right to teach our
- ghildren about sex. We are

their. parents and we- ac:
cept. this responsibility’

Doctors inform us that

teenagers are by no means
the only ones who come in

for abortions. There are.
also many midde aged
woman, who are in full
possession of the facts who
come in for abortions.
Knowlwdge does not
Prevent them from
‘irresponsibie sexual
behaviour’. Can we really
hope to find a method of
teaching our teenagers

: which wiil keep them from

folowing our bad exam-

- pet Will the number of*

transmitting knowledge. It
is reducing sex to ihe same
level of importance as
dental hygiene. [t reflects a
lack of awe and reverence

for the reproduction of life.

“The very attempt to teach

ex in this way is an em-
phatic statement from
adults to youth that sex is
not sacred. I see no logical,
intelligent reason for
belleving that in-
stituationalized group
teaching of sex will
motivate teenagers to
responsible
behaviour

Let us return for a

moment to square one. A
doctor is concerned about

the alarming increase in

teenage pregancies and |

abortions, She

them about their
knowledge of contraception
and the sex education Hiey
have received at school. It
is because of the nature of
her questions that a more
comprehinsivye sex
education program in the
whools is seen os the
logical answer. But let us

supptec she asked different |

questions. Suppose she
asked each girl about the
example ber parents had
set for her, or about the
relationship she had with
her parents, or about
whether or not she had ever
recelved any moral

guidance? [ am suggesting

that other factors in those
girls’ lives could have been
Indentified which played a
much greater role in

UP ALITTLC. THIS WAL.

than lack of knowledge. We
must face the fact that fifty .

years ago we did not have
this this. problem to much a
degree; yet sex education
was not taught in the
schoois, There were just as
many, in fect many more
‘ignorant’ or shall I ray
‘innocent’ teenagers, But
most were not ‘sexually

active’ or ‘sexually
irresponsible’, Therefore
‘lack of knowledge does not

cause these things any
more than knowledge will
prevent them. What cur
teenagers peed is not more
knowledge, but more of
what those teenagers fifty
years ago had - parents
who truly believed in and
taught old-fashioned
morals, Our teenagers cry
for bread and we have
offered them a stone.
Yes, 1 am against sex
education being taught in
the schools. I'm against
what they have done in the
post. I'm agains! the new,
more comprehensive
program, I'm against it not
just for my own chikiren;
Tm against it for what: it

: will do to our society. These -

POST

BACK

| sch

.. ‘Therein uo evidence fo
prove thatit will reduce the
number - of teenage
pregancies and abortions.

2. Even ff it.did, would

the ‘method jusiify the:

harm it might do? It may
actually . increase the

emphasized ata time when

- students should already

know these things, and

and future goals should be ©
emphagize| =~

3. It transfers the right
and responsibility of
parents to the schools.

_ & It goes against -the .

traditional role of the
school to complement and
strengthen the teaching of
the home. In order far our

_ flemocratic. socitty to
“survive; ow bomoes inust be ae

OFFICE

FIGHTS E BACK |

tte naaige bas topact” he meseage vai. |

‘Yup. Anything that bounces from the envelope,
turns in the alr as it forma iteelf into a missile and’
does a screaming ricochet off the forehead, can,
truthfully, be said to have impact.

‘The medium has accuracy," it read. -*

Can't argue with that. Impaet and accuracy — a
sharp rap on the frontal lobe is absolutely
guaranteed to get your undivided attention first

_ thing in the morning.

The subject of the lesson is a gimmick that
' Canada Post (that’s the post office) ts mailing to
unwary recipients acroes the country. The object ia
to extol] the virtues of direct-mail advertising.
Canadls Post has bean the subject of vilification .
lately and it’s fighting back. .
This particular ammunition comes in a blue
envelope, Tucked inside is a golded-up cardboard
- contrivance loaded with an elastic band. .
Release, it springs aloft, forming iteelf into a 13-
sided cube and startling the daylights. out of the

addressee.

“Now,” it bugles in triumph, ‘will ihe person who
said that sobody ever notices. direct mail ad-
vertizing please leave the room!”

Many do. Swiftly. Down to the Duichman's for a
generous infusion of soothing syrup while the pulse

returns to normal. .

This cunning little device comes with holes that
make it useful as a pencil-hoider. It is also a
calendar which informs you that when it's Saturday
where you are, it's Samedi in Quebec (or vice-

versa.)

It arrived in this office on a day when the local
Paper was Glled with letters to the editor on the
efficiency — or lack thereof —-of Canada Post :

_ The heads read:

“Postal service downgraded; 18 miles in 2 day;
Cheques were lost, delayed. ow

They posed such questions as:

"hte wrng wi pata tery? Rage

mail? Carrier pigeons?”

Weil, you have to admit, there are nix letters at
iaas! which reached the destination.

The longest diatribe of the lot fe one frees « cltirun
complaining that it took from Ded. § to Jan. é for &
letter to get to him over a distance of Limiles. :

The irate one contrasts thls with a minsive be
received from Kobwe, Zambia, in only 15 days.

Uniess be got pecsmal delivery via cleft atich, .
who does be think delivered the letier to bis front
door? Canada Post, that's who. And, in this case,

right smartly, too.

a here are it of our fellow citisers out thera wit
Canada Post doing their best. if it doean't come Up
to our expectations, theo maybe cur sights are set

mail?"

delivery how

DOWN

. if

mag

7

ool sex educatio

stituations. Our present
trend, if continued to its
logical end will evenriauy

“yob us of our individualism

and our - freedom.
S. It acts asa bain to the
conscience of parents and
encourages apathy. There
are many parents who

would teach there children

_ about aex Lf they did not

od

realize it was being taught
at school. Thas when “the
school tries to-take up the

slack in order to reach the . put:

students whoee parents
never will bother to teach
them, ironically it ia

parents to abdicate . this
responsibility to the school.

It always bas been a dif- —

ficult responsibility and
here is a perfect out. By
sitting back in silence we
are all agreeing that this is
‘the best solution to the
problem. By wo doing, we
are encouraging
parents to ‘forget it’ a
leave it up to the schools,
whom we all apparently
agree, can do a better job.
6. When it comes [fo sex,
people's morals and values
differ greatly. Teachers

objectively. I believe it is
harmful to teach sex
education that way. You
can teach dental hygiene in
this manner. You can
present children with the
facts. Hf they choose not to
follow good dental hygiene

they may end up with false ©
‘teeth. But how a students - .

ipels about sex and what be
chooees'to do about it will
affect: his: whole life. To
have teachers present
these. facta in an im-

to the student by this un-
natural approach? I
believe that what will
result is such a weak
solution of what is needed
that it will be like an oe
nocubation agai

te

morality. It in not fair

the real root of ihe
problem. If we really want
to help teenagers, we need
to strengthen homes and
encourage parents, Our
are bumnan. . They.-have.. teenagers need: parents
thelr - own swiews" aid 1. «abe: dempastrate boveiand | effectively,“you Would Eke
feelings; however, they are + centers) “/ ewenr/simore | wn to involve Four child in A
expected to teach this  desperatery than they need
subject impereonally and knowledge. Here is one
solution 1 though of. May be
you can think of a better

given grade, a test could be -
given on the facts which the
course plans to cover.
Results could be given on

“Tt has been the concern af
~ the public that many young
people are sot receiving
adequate sex education.
‘Increasing pressure has
been put on the schools to
provide this education,
Though schools now teach
more sex education than
they have ever before the

Irresponsible
bebavior, early pregancies
and abortions among
teenagers, have increased.
In view of these statistics
we realize that the school is
very limited in its ef-
Sectivences in teaching sex

Sex ig a very personal
matter, in iving deep

people agree. ‘a these

meaningful ex-
perience In which the

experience. When itcomes % = Mr.
“there ja no substitute for a

disetgaion on a one-to-one

basis,
In order to facilitate the f
parents in this respon-

sibility, we have conducted

a Furvey. We are sending
your child's results along

with an answer sheet and |
additional information that 1

you may or may not want }

special library from which
parenta may obtain -

pamphlets and borrow
books and films, which

they may take home and .
discuss with their children. —

The Public Health will also

organize groups of parents

who are interested in
discussing effective ways
of teaching responsible
sexuality to their children.

Please find enclosed a

card. If you will fill thisip _

and return it to the school

Po aay we Me ta en eT

en

‘we will know that you are ©

taking care of this matter

athome. If we do nother  —

fran you we will assume
that despite our diffiegity

: in dealing with this subject

sex education programo as
we see fit, Under such a
program we cannot
gaurantee that your child
will learn the standards
and values that you would
wish. By turning this

develop. You must un
derstand that in dealing
with ao large group of
tudenis whose parents all
have different views, we
have no alternative but io
teach our own views.

Your Principal .

1 befleve in
what | have

tried to say...’

This solution would at
east encourage parents to
teach their children ©
themselves. It would also
provide for those students ©
whose parents would still
neglect to teach them.

I believe in what I have
tried to say in this letter. E
believe it so deeply that K
has been difficult for mete
express, and I belleve it 50
strongly that it is herd for
me tobelleve that there are
not many more parents
who will feel as I do. Now is
the time Yor all parents whe
feel that the proposed sex.
education is not
the solution to stand up and
be counted and to let their
volces be heard. The school
board wants to know how
we teed They are our board

want to represent our
wishes, Let’s act right now

fulfill thelr parental
responsibilities. Ii you
agree with this letter, sign
your name to it and send it
to the sthsol board in care
Hamilton.

» JeauE. Clarke

MeL SER ORME bry 5 Sea?

creme
oeeras

PRREESY

eo ca anil

er