Sidelined by SB 5395

Most of us agree that the goal of caring parents is to rear a well-adjusted child. As a teacher, principal, university professor, and parent, I see potential pitfalls in the SB5395 sex education law.

A primary teacher’s first responsibility is to inculcate reading and arithmetic. The only approved curriculum embeds sexual terms throughout all subjects. When students have not learned their colors of turquoise and purple, they are expected to parrot genitalia and nipples.

More curriculum selections exist in the upper grades but include a plethora of sexual practices. For teachers, putting a prophylactic over a banana in front of a group of mixed pubescent teenagers would be the height of embarrassment. A majority view is absent. The curriculum is dominated by one vocal group.

Once innocence is gone, it cannot be recovered. Too early exposure to graphics and terminology far beyond their developmental years, will inure children to the process of healthy relationships and procreation. Like pornography, it can deaden the senses and set up unrealistic expectations.

I am aghast that school boards are mandated to follow the curriculum. This area has been the domain of local boards. What is right for Seattle is not always right for Ephrata.

Many invested parents feel sidelined by the passage of SB5395. An organized campaign is underway to put a referendum before the public

Yes, there needs to be fewer unwanted pregnancies, fewer STDs, and happier, healthier citizens. But is this the best way?

Ellen Williams

Liberty Lake