More than a million out-of-wedlock births occur each year in the United States. Those babies are seven times more likely to grow up in poverty than their counterparts and are also more likely to find their way into the nation's overcrowded prisons.

A failure to understand the most fundamental of moral codes (that a civil person must attempt to control his impulses and passions) underlies the problem. Additionally, our nation's 50 percent divorce rate is indicative that sexual attraction and love are not synonymous.

Are those who speak of "sex education" addressing the realities presented or merely passing out condoms with a wink — and thus contributing to the basic problem?

Lillian Gardiner

Provo