
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993                   TAG: 9304220438
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BE OPEN-MINDED ABOUT CURRICULUM

I WAS DISMAYED to see the biased way in which staff writer Laura Williamson reported the content of the recent meeting on the abstinence curriculum. Her first two paragraphs lead readers to believe that a "conspiracy that profits from teen sex through contraception and abortion" is what Mike Long was here to talk about. Nothing could be more ludicrous. That subject was not even brought up until near the end of the two-hour meeting. In fact, it was the unidentified parent in the article, not Long, who brought up the word "conspiracy."

In reality, what Long did present was the outline of a curriculum well worth a second look. It does not in any way espouse any religion and it leaves students free to pursue their own spiritual beliefs. It also does not advocate a lack of proper education on contraception. It does, however, offer a valid alternative choice to teens facing tremendous peer pressure to engage in sexual activity.

I encourage all Roanoke County parents to be truly open-minded about this curriculum and to base your opinion on a review of the program, not on the impressions left from biased newspaper articles. DENNIS CAUSEY ROANOKE COUNTY

by CNB