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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 22, 1993                   TAG: 9305240235
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ABSTINENCE VS. `SAFE SEX'

KATHRYN Haynie ("Give students the facts about sexuality") and Ann Richardson ("Don't base decisions on slick marketing") argued in May 10 letters that the Sex Respect health-education curriculum should not be considered by public schools because of its emphasis on "fear and shame." I wonder if they think the same about campaigns by the American heart and lung associations, which are based on similar principles of warning against the natural medical consequences of irresponsible and dangerous behavior.

The federal government has spent $3 billion since 1970 on "realistic" sex education, none of which presented abstinence as the only safe option for unwed minors. The results are astounding: an AIDS epidemic infecting all levels of society; a 40-year high in syphilis infections; occurrences of pelvic inflammatory disease and herpes in epidemic numbers; and the tragedies multiply.

It is time to change our tactics. Instead of teaching more children how to have "safe sex" and expecting them to possess the security and perspective to act responsibly when millions of adults have failed to do so, we need to provide the very realistic, safe option of abstinence. And the fear of infection by a fatal disease is not a bad motivation but a reality. CHARLES T. EVANS ROANOKE

by CNB