Letters

August 1, 2019, 5:04

Hello Ms. Fenton

Thank you for your question; it is a very important question to ask.

I am deeply concerned, as are many, about the developing role of public education in areas of health that I believe are not under the purview of education. I see this intrusion into the private lives of students in areas of health and psychology.

I do support education in basic biology in high school in health class but not earlier. Any younger I feel is inappropriate because puberty spans a number of years and for females later onset of menses is not a concern in pediatrics until the age of 16. This means that realistically there are students in middle school that are still children. This is one reason why it is important for sex education to be the responsibility of parents so timing is appropriate rather than a general and impersonal approach to all children through the schools.

I believe parents absolutely have a right to see the sex education curriculum, and have full right to pull their child out of any curriculum which puts the child in conflict with the parents’ concerns and beliefs. Public education was never intended to replace the parental responsibilities in the founding of this country. In fact, parents were intended to be responsible for education and in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 the government allocated land specifically for building schools but the rest was left to the communities under the guidance of parental involvement - "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."  The states were to encourage education, but the Northwest Ordinance did not require states to provide public education.

In comparison to today, the government has morphed public education into parenting and assumed and enforced control without regard to the parent.

I attached a link to a form “Providing Health Care for Minors under Washington Law” written in 2006 and I was not able to find a current update but in the second column on the right and second cell it defines a “Mature Minor”. This is concerning because it is allowing doctors and the government to usurp the parental rights of a minor. In its worst manifestation occurring currently in Canada under MAID is the legal right if the child is determined to be a “Mature Minor” a child can choose euthanasia without parental consent.

Circling back, to your question I have anecdotal experiences with the school district and the Teen Health Center (separate from the school nurse). The Teen Health Center can provide means of birth control without parental consent; this includes IUD, progesterone rod implant and the morning after pill etc. Two young women I spoke with said they had gotten the implant not because they were sexually active but because there period was irregular. I explained it takes time for the body to regulate and it is important to eat well, exercise and sleep so it can adjust independently from the influence of drugs. My concern as a parent is if there are complications with birth control I would not know to consider symptoms as related to something as significant as the morning after pill. How is it justified that others can be in the “know” but not the parent? This leads into your last question about Initiative I-1004. If a minor has an abortion without parental consent, how would the parent know what to do in the best interest of the child if complications arise? Further, what about the psychological effects of an abortion or physiological effects of the hormone disruption?

It is all very concerning and this doesn’t get into the liberties, or corruption that takes place related to sex education. I had one constituent call me last week who was shocked at what he saw as a highly sexually charged school class at a Seattle Public Library which included high school students and many small children visiting the library. He is an older man and from the gay community. He asked what many ask, why would a school district, principal or teacher choose to suggest and influence sexual behavior in teens and moreover to children?

Regards,

Darcie Kline