Our children’s best interest

In response to “No to value-free sex ed bills” (Penny Lancaster, Fe. 8), your idealistic approach to sexual education is commendable by just saying no; it is not realistic or preventative. If our children don’t get responsible information, they will learn incorrect information from their peers.

Maybe parents should be mandated to sit through a class taught by a qualified teacher who has taught this class before to see if they would be comfortable in repeating what the teacher teaches. Kids ask more questions and open up more to a teacher than with their parents. If parents themselves haven’t been given factual information, they will not be able to give correct information to their own children.

Please put yourself in your pre-teen’s shoes. If a child is too afraid to tell their parents that they have a different sexual orientation or that they are pregnant, do you really think they will come to you about sex education when it is already too late? They would probably be afraid to disappoint or make you angry.

This issue is not about being too liberal. It is about taking care of our children. How emotionally and psychologically stressful do you think it would be for a child to be too afraid to talk to someone about a sudden pregnancy or about being targeted for their sexual orientation. Possible suicide? It’s about our children’s‘ best interests — not about getting our egos out of joint because we don’t agree with this issue.

Carol Echtenkamp

Spokane