By
Dear Editor,
The article “Family Matters: Keeping Sex Ed Conservative,” (April 17) Katelyn Jacobson shares that the Assembly Bill 2085 attempted to give parents the permission to take their child out of sexual education. This letter is in response to the consequences that happened to Larry King due to a lack of acceptance of his sexuality. Because children are not exposed enough to the diversity of sexuality and gender, innocent boys like Larry King have to suffer. Parents who do not believe their child should partake in sexual education due to religious beliefs, create an environment in sex ed where many students are deprived of information necessary to maintain a healthy sex life.
Many programs teach abstinence because it is the only federally funded sexual education approach and never touch issues of LGBT — at least not when I was in middle or high school. Since children are not exposed to important information about others’ sexuality, they cannot make sense of others who have different sexual preferences, creating a sense of discrimination.
When incidents like the death of Larry King happen, it is disturbing that sexual education has not yet changed and that parents are trying to take control over their child’s sexual education. According to Guttmacher Institute, “By 2002, one-third of teens had not received any formal instruction about contraception.” Making healthy decisions and accepting others needs to be taught to children, rather than abstinence.
Marielle Balogh<br/>First-year student
