The little town of Ridgway has been in the newspapers lately, and the news hasn’t been good.

Earlier this month, a veterinarian and biology teacher, was called upon to defend his judgment in including on a high-school biologist test a question about anal sex. The teacher said that such topics as AIDS awareness were included in the curriculum he was assigned to teach and in the book approved for the class.

"Questions should be phrased so that they’re real in life instead of clinical," he said.

The test was given to sophomore students to complete at home, and predictably, several of their parents objected. They believe strongly that the responsibility for instructing young people about sexuality and the relevant morality belongs with parents, not teachers. They also believe the question about anal sex was a reference to homosexuality, a topic they find abhorrent and believe their children should be shielded from hearing about. They wanted the teacher fired; the school board disagreed, but you can be fairly sure that the next time he gives a test on that subject, he’ll go about it a little differently.

All that would seem like just another version of what’s been happening nationwide for decades now, except for something else that happened recently in Ridgway. Another teacher, this time one who’s a town council member rather than a veterinarian, was arrested for and has admitted to having sex with a student. Another alleged victim has come forward has told investigators he knows of yet others.

Crimes like this are one important reason that teachers cannot abdicate their responsibility to teach the scientific facts related to sexual behavior, even behavior that parents and teachers hope does not become a factor in their students’ lives. The teacher who confessed to sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust was male, as was the student he is charged with assaulting.

That brings the subject of homosexual contact out into the open in Ridgway. It means that students far younger than sophomores in high school are going to be talking about it. Maybe they’re going to be talking to parents, counselors, clergy, but they’re also going to be discussing it on the street, on the playground, in private little huddles with other youngsters who know no more of the facts than they do.

Most teachers, undoubtedly including biology teacher David Kenney, would be immensely relieved if they could be certain all parents instructed their children about the realities of sex at an appropriate age. "Appropriate," unfortunately, means in time for them to understand what’s happening to them and around them. Sometimes that means their own adolescent hormonal stirrings; sometimes it means a news story that catches their attention (as this one undoubtedly did). Sometimes, though, it’s an event they’re powerless to control.

As disturbing as it is to admit, kids need to know about sex. They need to know more and earlier than they used to. If parents address the topic openly and honestly, their kids can handle hearing it discussed in science class. If parents haven’t broached the subject by the time the students are sophomores in high school, though, they have left their children unprepared for a variety of situations they’re increasingly likely to face.

In a perfect world, parents wouldn’t neglect their children’s education in that way. In the real world, teachers like David Kenney in Ridgway are forced to shoulder responsibility that shouldn’t be theirs.