Sir, - The Minister for Education on the Pat Kenny Radio Show of March 31st denied that an explicit video on sexual intercourse is part of the proposed Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). This is clearly stated on page 64 for fifth and sixth class children, who are often mixed. Classroom discussion and the emotions involved (page 38) is in the context of a "committed relationship" - marriage is not mentioned. To have public discussion of this and other intimate matters of physical development in a classroom setting, constitutes an abuse of children and destroys their natural modesty and innocence. It also makes them vulnerable to promiscuity and, as experience from other countries shows, they are often tempted to put their newly acquired sexual knowledge into practice.
In RSE no mention is made of the Ten Commandments, God or Right and Wrong. Instead, children are encouraged to make choices only according to what they "feel comfortable with". In this way they are at the mercy of pressure from the entertainment world and peers, and are left only with their "feelings" to rely on. Because the teaching is "value free" and "non judgemental", no sexual behaviour or lifestyle is to be considered wrong.
The Minister said she has spent three years preparing RSE. Similar sex education programmes, devoid of morality, have caused considerable damage in other countries. How is it that the Minister has avoided informing parents of the well documented evidence of such damage? Since the introduction of School Sex Education in America and despite spending three billion dollars on those programmes, abortion has increased by 800 per cent, illegitimate births by 457 per cent, juvenile suicides by 214 per cent, venereal disease (including AIDS), by 245 per cent and crime by 295 per cent the opposite to the promised outcome. What Irish parents would want their child to be one of those statistics?
On the Pat Kenny Radio Show, the Minister said that "parents have the greatest rights under the Constitution" and gave her "guarantee that parents could withdraw their child from RSE if they wished". As it is clearly stated on page 49 that RSE is to be "cross curricular", to be introduced into other subjects like Geography, Science, Biology, English etc, how in practice can a child be withdrawn from RSE? Is the child to be removed for IS minutes from Biology, 10 minutes from Geography and 12 minutes from Science etc, when RSE content is being discussed? Is this not making a mockery of parents rights and of the Minister's guarantee?
By pushing RSE on the children of Ireland, which the Minister called "a carefully crafted programme", she is helping to further the agenda of International Planned Parenthood (Planned Parenthood). This organisation supports abortion, contraception, sterilisation and perverted sexual practices. To roach these goals, their first strategy in every country is to create a climate for school sex education by claiming public support for it. Its Irish branch, the Irish Planning Family Association, which is a strong promoter of sex education, was behind a recent poll, launched claiming support for school sex education in Ireland. Alan Guttmacher, a former director of Planned Parenthood, once let slip, that "abortion in America was made secure by sex education in the schools". Irish Parents, beware of this "crafty programme" and object to the Minister's plans for Irish children. Yours, etc.,
Bothar Caislean do hide,
Mainstir Fhear Moi,
Co Corcaigh.