September 16, 2016

Letters to the Editor

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No letters were printed this week; here is the letter from last week:

Parents need to take the lead on teaching children about sexuality and pornography, reader says

This letter is submitted in response to Father Tad Pacholczyk’s column in the Aug. 26 issue of The Criterion, “Talking to kids about porn and human sexuality.”

To begin, talking to kids about pornography and sex is the wrong approach. Parents discussing the subjects in the presence of their children is a more appropriate concept. There are many opportunities for this to happen and, believe me, children will be attentive.

Teaching your children on this topic begins early, first and most importantly, by parents respecting each other and their children. Care for the children should demonstrate that some matters are private, that their bodies are temples of God.

Children should be taught to respect themselves and others. By the time children reach the age of understanding, they ought to have the basics without ever having “the talk.”

Regarding older children, teenagers and pre-teens, being too strict is definitely the wrong approach, but they should know that you are a parent and not their older friend. Use of the Internet and cellphones should be considered just like use of an automobile. If used improperly, then access is withdrawn.

Before children are old enough to have an interest in pornography, they should have already overheard parental conversations about porn being a perversion, that it is destructive of natural character, that it steals attention that should be devoted to one’s spouse and places it on a picture. It is used by Satan to drag people down into his power.

With regard to dating, boys need to know they are expected to respect their date, and misconduct has terrible consequences. Girls need to know the same, including demanding respect and setting the boundaries for behavior.

All this can be accomplished without ever having “the talk” with kids, without ever mentioning sexuality. This is too private a subject for public discussion, including in classrooms.

Children can be told sex is for married people.

- Emery Mapes | Lawrenceburg

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