Hello,

I am very much in support of Virginia SB656, to ensure that ALL Virginia public school parents are notified when sexually explicit content is going to be used in our children's classrooms or for educational assignments using the school's library books.

As mentioned in Section V, Part A2, under "Guiding Principles," "Each parent has the right to make decisions concerning their child’s education in accordance with their customs, faith, and values."

For many, many parents, there are NO "shades of gray" about this issue. As the song below illustrated in 1967, and is even MORE pertinent in our time today, our kids' world should be as much "a simple game" as possible--and if/when/how our kids are exposed to sexually explicit information, whether written, oral, or visual, IS one of the most sensitive and sacred areas where the parents should be in charge. 

This bill DOES NOT keep parents from saying "absolutely, yes!" to letting their kids have access to any and all sexually explicit material in our schools, but it DOES give those of us who wish to protect our OWN children's hearts and minds from such material the right to do so, for as long as we see fit.

Read the words to this song. Remember what was going on in America in the 1960s when it was written, and please take to heart the sentiment expressed, and help us, Virginia parents, to preserve this for our own kids too, as long as possible, and please let us, Virginia parents, be the ones to come alongside our own kids, to prepare them for the world that they are growing up in, one that truly is full of even more "shades of gray" today, than ANY of us here could ever possibly have imagined we would see in our lifetimes.

Thank you for taking the time to read my comment and ponder what I've shared.

"Shades Of Gray"

When the world and I were young
Just yesterday
Life was such a simple game
A child could play
It was easy then to tell right from wrong
Easy then to tell weak from strong
When a man should stand and fight
Or just go along

But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light
Today there is no black or white
Only shades of gray

I remember when the answers seemed so clear
We had never lived with doubt or tasted fear
It was easy then to tell truth from lies
Selling out from compromise
Who to love and who to hate
The foolish from the wise

But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light
Today there is no black or white
Only shades of gray

It was easy then to know what was fair
When to keep and when to share
How much to protect your heart
And how much to care

But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light
Today there is no black or white
Only shades of gray
Only shades of gray

Writers: Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Performed  by: The Monkees, Year: 1967