Loudoun Times-Mirror
May 3, 2005
By Susan Ernst
I read with alarm and sadness Sabrina Audrey Jess’s story of her homosexual friend’s inability to talk with his parents because the priest at his church labeled his behavior as “evil” (“Teen Widens Audience,” April 27).
Apparently, up to that point, he had enjoyed an open relationship with his parents. Is this what Del. Richard Black (R-eastern Loudoun) and his fellow conservatives have in mind in promoting family values?
Furthermore, we send our kids to school to “socialize” them yet, once there, we forbid them to engage in thoughtful discussions about topics that are a very real part of our society.
We line them up in neat little rows, tell them to what to do, what to say, and what to learn but wonder why they can’t think and solve problems for themselves.
We applaud them for filling in bubbles on mindless tests and punish them when they constructively challenge a system they believe is flawed.
Our public schools are institutions representing anything but the democratic, scientific and caring communities that are out here in the real world.
So what’s a teen to do when his school, his church, and now his family are no longer places to turn for acceptance?
Susan Ernst
Leesburg