To the editor:

Last week's Phoenix contained a letter to the editor vilifying Bristol's two state representatives, Sue Donovan and June Speakman, for co-sponsoring House Bill 2022-7166, which would amend the archaic existing public school sex education curriculum with more realistic and modern language and teaching methods, which have not changed substantially from the days of the gilded age.

The current curriculum limiting sex education to the teaching of abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred method of birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted disease is both woefully outdated and totally unrealistic, as this is 2022, and whether you like it or not, young people these days are sexually active and are going to remain sexually active, regardless of how much chastity and abstinence are promoted in school. As history has taught us, teaching and promoting these outdated methods of sex education simply leads to a plethora of problems, including unwanted pregnancies, back-alley abortions, and increased depression and suicide among LGBTQ students.

The backwards thinking that young people are somehow going to abstain from sex and not explore alternative lifestyles based upon what is taught in an obviously outdated curriculum is both short sighted and foolish, and I hope our elected leaders in all levels of government continue to advocate for adopting realistic sex education which is more in line with the culture of today, and not the culture of generations ago.

I wholeheartedly support the language in this bill, and while I'm disappointed the bill did not make it out of committee, I sincerely thank Representatives Donovan and Speakman for their courage and forward thinking in co-sponsoring this legislation and remain optimistic this bill will soon become law.

Mike Proto
245 Chestnut St.