Riverdale mom Novella Sargusingh said that to her two school-age children, but not without also driving home the lessons. She talked to them about choosing friends and spouses carefully, pointing out that Linda R. Tripp was a bad choice for Monica S. Lewinsky, as was Bill Clinton for Hillary Rodham Clinton. I'm not going to cheat on my wife or nothing like that. Some are turning the anger into action. This is not worth the trauma that it's causing my family.
Parental anxiety cuts across political and philosophical lines.
Two parents with conflicting approaches to sex education said that they have moments of sheer confusion about what to say and admit that at times they may simply turn off the television and tell their children that such topics are for older ears. Cathy Raisher is a D.C. parent of two who teaches family life and sexual health at Lafayette Elementary School. Susan Fleming is a Fairfax mother who opts her five children out of the county's sex education classes until 10th grade, at which time she and her husband are certain they will have conveyed their Christian values about the birds and the bees. Fleming plans to talk to her older children before they learn things elsewhere. But yesterday, seeing the complete Starr report in the newspaper, she tucked the section out of sight.