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Show Editor: May we use your paper to reply to Mr. Overson's comments on "Meet the Candidates Night" concerning the Critical Issues Conference held October Oc-tober 12, at the Cedar City High School. - i. , , It was obvious by his reply that he had neither been to the conference nor done his homework regarding the question, which had nothing to do with sex education, but rather parenting information. We would like, by this letter to clarify our position: The high school PTA approached the Iron Co. ; School Board prior to this meeting and asked about the possibility of adding a parenting class to the school curriculum. They suggested that we hold a public meeting to inform the public of the need and what we would like to do. In keeping with the School Boards request, the public meeting was called and held on Oct. 12. The purpose was to present to the public, by way of a panel, the concerns we had as a PTA, educators, medical people, and religious leaders in helping our youth deal with this growing problem. A survey sheet was handed out to anyone coming into the meeting and contained some of the following questions: 1) What school does your child attend? 2) How effectively are students being prepared for responsible adulthood and parenthood by the schools, home, community and churches? 3) Would you like to see more emDhasis placed in helping students ifim Edit6r 'Tin editor wekiimes letters to be w niter in I his puhlu loruin. trom any and .ill parlies Letters should be concise and lo liie point as possible Type-written double spaced tellers are prel erred but hand written letters will be accepted AH tellers should In- signed, but mitnesHill.be w nhhelii if a specified reason is slated. N unsigned letters will be published nters should keep all letters under 250 words it possible, longer letters will be subject to possible editing In general, all letle-s tl be published us they arc written n hhehus. olwcene itr malicious copy will be accepted Editor: Appearing in your paper this day in your "Letters to the editor" section will be found a letter over the signature, PTA President Jeanette Slack. Certain concerns are presented therein, relative to my comments on "Meet the Candidates Night", to which I desire to reply. I do first thank the PTA for extending me the courtesy cour-tesy of informing me of this letter and tendering me a copy of same. , I would now like to say 1 made no comment relative to the Critical Issues Conference, of which I am being accused. I sas handed a format question, prepared so far as I knew, by the League of Women Voters. The question: "There has been a great deal of concern recently about increasing in-creasing teen-age pregnancies in our schools and increasing child abuse in our society. Do you feel that classes in parenting should be added to the curriculum in an effort to combat these problems?" My response I quote in total, "I do not have a closed mind to this matter but my present position is - The parenting concepts originally were to teach budgeting - early marriage pitfalls - etc. I did not favor the concept then nor do I now for the very reason evident in this question - the original concepts are lost to the overriding concern - increasing teen pregnancies - this is old sex education all over again - teaching sex education without a moral standard is wrong and whose standard do you use? I do favor enlarging our present courses to the extend the curriculum can stand." Now my further comment; Reference is made to my "not doing my homework". Two years ago while a member of the school board, there was held in Cedar City under the sponsorship of the State Board of Ecuation, a public meeting, to discuss the matter of teaching parenting in the schools. Present at the meeting were, three parents, staff and board members from Washington and Iron counties. Presented to us was the concept of a parenting class covering the full gamut of parenting, taking a full unit time slot and possibly even being a required class. We (the board) took a position opposing this concept. Following this presentation however we did determine the extend to which this subject was already in our present curriculum, and then directed that expanded effort be made in this area. Several months following, a PTA representative presented to the board, for board approval, the sending sen-ding out through the schools, to the parents, a survey questionnaire relative to parenting. We declined this proposal, objecting to the fact the survey did not recognize any problem aspects, such as; what do you not teach to make room for this - what of sex education will it be included - etc. We did advise the PTA, if they would revise their questionnaire to resolve our objections, we would approve its being distributed. The response was that the preparation of the present questionniare was a big job and they would not ask their people to re-do it. This concluded my board experience with this matter. Thank you. Sincerely, Robert J. Overson acquire a personal value system such as standards, ideals goals, and morals? 4) Wht concerns do you have about parenting education in the schools? 5) What course (s) or subject (s) do you feel should be added to the schools to improve parenting skills for both j students and adults? j 6) Is your child equipped with the J basic skills to help raise the standards j of home life? ' ! 7) What changes, if any, would you support to deal with the above con- j cerns? j The objective of the PTA is to educate our students that they may j not be emotionally equipped j to accept the responsbilities of j parenthood and to persuade them to j continue their education instead of marriage at this early age. Our j purpose would be to teach the j responsibility of child care, home management, financial situations which they could become involved in, and the emotional aspects of being immature parents trying to cope in a very difficult situation. Our intention is not to teach morals, or sex ecucation, but the real life problems involved in the responsibility of i becoming a parent. Hopefully, it would help the student .better, understand un-derstand himself, and to know , whether he-she is ready to deal with ... ' this type of responsibility and also to remove the fairy-tale ideals that most youth associate with being on their own, or which they expect will come from marriage at an early age. More and more of our young people are finding themselves in a situation which they are not prepared for and oft times are unable to cope with the emotional scars that may never heal. We would like to help them, through a parenting class, realize the awesome responsibilities they could face, and then with this knowledge, they would become more responsible for their acts. And for those who have already made early marriage a part of their life, it may ensure them a better chance of survival. We too, feel sex education should be taught in the home and do not feel it proper to teach methods of contraception, con-traception, but we do see the need for our young people to have the best information possible to prepare them for their future. We have had very good reports back from the Critical Issues Con- ference meeting and feel it was a very I worth while effort. The results of the I above mentioned survey will be given I to the School Board. We would ap- 1 preciate it, however, if those people I who were not in attendance, would find out the facts before making f judgments. Sincerely, Jeanette Slack I PTA President Marva Middleton, Education Comm. Clarissa Davis, Health & Welfare Comm. Editor: In East Elementary, the Third Grade has been studying about Iron County and how it was settled. The following written selections and are pieces are representative of those inspired by this study: 1. David Bulloch was the first white boy to set foot in Cedar City, Utah. On Nov. 11, 1851 David Bulloch, age 7, ran in front of the wagons to be the first white boy in Cedar City. Seventy years later he rode the first train in Cedar City. He was the last survivor of his company. He was my great grandfather. By Darren Bulloch 2. Mrs. Bayer's Third Grade went to the Irdn Mission Museum. We saw some old wagons. A woman made some dolls. The heads were made out of apples. They showed us some old dresses and some old horseshoes. by Kevin Keith Lasson 3. The Third Grade went to the Iron Mission Museum. We saw tools used by blacksmiths. My great grandfather grand-father was a blacksmith in early Iron County. His name was Mr. Webb. by Dell Rich i |