Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 5, 1993 TAG: 9304050220
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PARENTS SHOULD SEEK OUT THE FACTS
IN FOLLOWING the media concerning the abstinence-based curriculum for teens that is being publicized, I make the following comments:The media's job is to report both perspectives on an issue. Care should be taken in not tainting with cynicism either side. The media's pitting of one perspective against another makes this interesting to the public. However, I encourage parents and concerned citizens not to rely solely on media reports, but to seek the truth themselves in this matter. This is especially important, in this instance, because our children's futures are at stake. Much of our society has provided a most unstable environment for raising sound, responsible citizens for America's future.
Mike Long was invited to speak to the public recently. He presented a very informative program on Project Respect's curriculum and teaching methods, and he gave sound, reasonable answers to questions from the audience. Of the approximately 130 persons attending, 108 signatures supported a stronger abstinence emphasis in our schools. These informed citizens will be personally invited to look over the entire curriculum. It is best to have truly informed parents helping the administration to make decisions for their children.
Roanoke County schools have a good family-life curriculum. We do not wish to take away, but to add to, the abstinence emphasis of the current curriculum. I did not receive birth-control information as I pursued my education through Virginia Western Community College and Virginia Tech, so was grateful to Roanoke County schools for their earlier "sex ed" curriculum. Many parents, as well as I, regret that a strong, abstinence-based program that builds positive self-esteem, promotes self-control and positive peer pressure was not available for us as teens in the county schools. Our goal as concerned parents is to keep the present curriculum and supplement it with a strong, directive abstinence-based curriculum, with student and teacher manuals and with parent manuals available.
My husband and I have three teens in our county schools. I have been teaching a community group of 14 teens, ages 13 to 17, by focusing on the "Sex Respect" book. Although I am not the vibrant teacher that Long is, the participation of the students has been impressive: very open and revealing of what they have and have not learned under the present school curriculum. Our 17-year-old made this comment early in this 10-session course: "I wish my friends could hear this - all they have are condoms to save them."
KAREN SCOTT ROANOKE