Skip to content

Schools should teach abstinence, not how to engage in sex activities

Re. April 21 letter from Sean Burgess, headlined lt’s stupid to deny students information about sex:

Re. April 21 letter from Sean Burgess, headlined lt’s stupid to deny students information about sex:

Seems Burgess has forgotten that in the good old days, when schools were responsible for teaching the 3 Rs, reading, writing, and arithmetic, the kids seemed to make out pretty good under the tutelage of their parents.

Is it an advantage for kids to learn in school all about the various ways to have sex, including same-sex relationships, along with the location of the closest outlet selling condoms? How about teaching abstinence in schools, which has been found to be highly effective?

Alberta Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett thinks it fair that parents should have the option of having their children opt out of sex education classes if the content opposes their religious values while others oppose such.

How can parents even know what is being taught? The problem is that it has been found that schools follow no guideline in such classes and much is left to discussion.

I phoned the Department of Education to inquire if I, as a parent, could visit a sex-ed class. The reply was no, because much is left to discussion and students may not feel free to participate if their parent were there.

Burgess’s closing remarks are ridiculous: “Whose rights do we put first? The parents’ right to keep their child ignorant, or a child’s right to a proper education?”

C. L. Cole

Red Deer County