Letter To The Editor

To the Editor:

This is in reaction to a letter written by Bev Epright, a parent of a Gulf Coast High School student, on January 17, 2003.

Some of the parents of students at Gulf Coast High School are "appalled" at certain events taking place at the school. Specifically, two recent occurrences were mentioned. The first involved the addition of the Gay/Straight Alliance to our school's list of clubs. Nothing much was said about this, except for the condescending start of the letter: "As if it were not enough that we now have our own gay and lesbian clubÐ'..." I have just one comment on this topic. If it is not okay with some of our parents to build a spirit of community through mutual understanding of the individual differences among our studentsÐ'... and that means all of our studentsÐ'... then we are the ones who should be "appalled."

Moving on to issue number two: AKA "the banana incident." Last January, a teacher at my school was fired for the way in which he conducted his sex education class. Using a banana, he demonstrated the proper way to apply a condom. Perhaps a banana was not the best tool to use to perform this lesson, but I do not believe it required such drastic measures as a man losing his job. Regarding this episode, Mrs. Epright comments: "I can only wonder, was there ever any intention to teach abstinence? Unlike condoms, it works every time it is tried." Well, Mrs. Epright, that idea is all fine and dandyÐ'... except for the fact that in this day and age, the majority of our youth has lost its virginity some time within the four years before graduation rolls around. Being a former Gulf Coast High School student, I can testify that abstinence is the number one suggestion of all of the sex-ed teachers. However, it only makes sense to educate students