We have an opportunity this election to approve Referendum 90 that supports a state law to give our children the tools to protect themselves from an early age through high school. I’ve seen commercials on TV asking if you were a sexual assault victim during your time in the Scouts or of a church. My blood pressure goes up with anger toward the predators and those who protected them.
Who doesn’t want a child to develop healthy relationships with other children from kindergarten and up? Not only can children learn to protect themselves, but will learn to respect the other children’s protection of themselves. Children can learn “no means no” regarding any unwanted or disrespectful action or words they encounter.
Most of the school districts in the state already provide sex and healthy relationship education. The law provides that this instruction be age-appropriate and medically correct. With comprehensive sex education, students wait longer to engage in sexual activity, communicate more about birth control and their relationship with their partner, examine the risks, make informed decisions, and are more likely to use contraception to prevent sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy.
There has been a lot of solid research showing these better health outcomes. Those who want to promote abstinence should support what the evidence tells us actually works. Please vote to approve Referendum 90.
Kathy Bell
Arlington
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