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Why we need Ref. 90

Miriam walked into my office, holding her breath as I closed the door. Her eyes darting, she sat down with her back safely against a wall, near the door for an easy exit. She always looks for a close exit, she explained. When she exhaled, she sobbed.

“My father raped me from the time I was 11 until I was in college. I didn’t know, I didn’t know. I didn’t know it wasn’t right. I knew it was awful, and I thought it was going on for other people, too,” she told me.

At college, among roommates, she casually referenced the events. Horrified and compassionate, they explained rape by one’s father is still rape.

Approving Referendum 90 seeks to uphold a new Washington law requiring public schools to provide students with age-appropriate education about their bodies, and keeping themselves safe. Educating our children about relationships – what is appropriate, how to establish and keep boundaries and what to do when someone violates those boundaries – empowers them.

Parents, teachers and pediatricians who listen to teens, provide evidence-based data showing that teens who have accurate education about their sexual health, are less likely to engage in sexually risky behaviors resulting in unintended pregnancy, or sexually transmitted diseases.

Referendum 90 requires communities to collaborate on the curriculum selection. Parents can opt their children out. However, not all parents are ideal teachers. Some are monsters. Just ask Miriam.

Vote YES on Referendum 90.

Cathy Johnston

Spokane

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