Letter: Sex education in elementary school better than the alternative

This is a difficult situation to bring up, but here goes: I’ve read various letters to the editor regarding the Washington Legislature passing a law mandating sex education beginning in elementary school. Also, there was a man on Broadway with a big sign that said, “Sign the petition to stop sex education in elementary school.”

I understand the ideal situation would be the kids would have “the talk” with their parents. That may have been the norm 50-60 years ago, but let’s talk reality. Consider the movies and television in 2020, then throw in the social media aspect. Boy, those are real eye-openers.

It would be nice if the words “dignity,” “class,” “self-respect” and “integrity” were automatically placed in a young person’s brain. Wishful thinking. Listen to the conversations of the young people, the language — and remember what it was like back in the day. Big difference. Scary.

So all of you who are against the teaching of sex education in the elementary schools, give it some serious thought. You must realize that they already know a lot more than you can possibly imagine. We do not live in the “Leave it to Beaver,” “Happy Days” world anymore. Sad but true. I’ve got 13 grandchildren and four greats, so I’ve taken this situation into serious consideration. Isn’t it better that the kiddos are given the proper, correct sex education by professionals than learning misinformation via friends, TV, movies and social media?

But then the parents should be responsible for teaching them their morals, dignity and self-respect. That is really important. And parents, you should have “the talk” with your kids. You’d be surprised what you don’t know.

Joan M. Green

Moses Lake