I want to respond to the editor’s recent article about the proposed sex-ed bill “Sex education in schools: What Referendum 90 is and what it isn’t”, published Oct. 7).

While the bill itself makes reasonable sense to me, it is vague and makes it nearly impossible to find out what the approved curriculum options are for the 40 percent of school districts in our state that don’t currently include sex-ed. I had to search for hours and click links often to no avail.

The bill still allows the districts to decide what they will teach if OSPI approves it, that we can agree on. (On a side note, I have faith in the Enumclaw School District and believe that it doesn’t change much for us now, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t change in the future.) The districts without a curriculum will more than likely choose an option from OSPI because creating their own will be labor-intensive and very costly.

The real objectives are hidden with an agenda to bring in teachings that are not correct. If you don’t have the time to review it all, I have done the research for you and will provide some shocking examples from the curriculum. There is a lesson for grades 3-4 in the “All About Life” curriculum. It specifically says to teach all sex organs and specifies which ones have nerve endings and are sensitive to touch – not age appropriate at all!

In a different curriculum for grades 6-8, it gives an assignment to discuss dating behaviors by asking questions such as, “How do you know if someone is flirting with you?” It then directs the teacher to role play different situations with people of different sexual preferences. As a parent who strongly believes that dating is not appropriate at 13, I definitely do not feel this is the school’s responsibility. It is not educating our children about commonly accepted sex-ed like pregnancy prevention and the health risks of early sexual behavior (it’s probably promoting this!).

One notable example is a homework assignment for 6th graders to locate at least one place to get condoms, take a picture of one, and email it to the teacher! We must remember that the age of consent is 16 so why are we having these young children find condoms? What message are we sending to our precious children? It also teaches about emergency contraceptive as a birth control method and how to get it, yet no mention of failure rates of different birth control options (including the most effective method – abstinence!).

While debating about the bill earlier this year, an amendment was proposed that would have required a lesson on the dangers of pornography and it was voted down. In another lesson, there are Playboy magazine covers shown and self-pleasure is addressed. This is very concerning. To me, this feels like passing a deadly drug around the classroom for everyone to try. We know the dangers of pornography. As parents, we can’t sit idly by anymore. I just ask that you make an informed decision about this important bill on your ballot.

Shayla Udall

Enumclaw