If politicians want to look effective (even if they aren't) there are ways to go about it. Among them is latching onto a hot-button social issue to solidify your electoral base, then attempting to solve problems that simply don't exist.

One local official exemplifying this philosophy lately is state Rep. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro. Poirier's district covers North Attleboro as well as parts of Mansfield and Norton. She is an involved official, often appearing at local meetings and events.

While late to react to important local issues such as the North Attleboro Registry closure, Poirier has now curiously sponsored a sex education bill seeking to solve a problem even her own local high school principal says doesn't exist.

Poirier's bill would require school districts to obtain formal permission from parents before children could take sex education classes. Currently, schools give parents the right to "opt-out" of such courses if they choose. But Poirier believes that is not good enough.

"When it comes to permission slips, they can sometimes get lost in the bottom of backpacks, or not come back to school or never make it home in the first place," the veteran legislator said. "The more parents can see what's going on and then decide, the better," she added. Apparently the permission slips to "opt-in" would be somehow more secure.

Keeping parents informed about what is being taught in school is a great idea. The problem is - it's already being done. Schools go out of their way to involve parents. There are more opportunities today for parents to stay informed about their children's education than ever. E-mails, on-line access, local cable access television and increased scrutiny on public education give parents unprecedented knowledge of what their kids are studying.

But Rep. Poirier thinks when it comes to sex education, parents need to be dragged into the curriculum. She believes it is more important to inform parents their kids are being taught sex education than it is to notify them about the mathematics curriculum, the reading curriculum, or what is being taught in their history classes. Why? Apparently because it's "sex."

"The government is assuming to teach all things sexual, and it shouldn't be that way," Poirier said. "I think that families are a better judge of a child's maturity than schools."

All things sexual? Perhaps Rep. Poirier has knowledge of sex education curriculums being taught in local schools the rest of us don't, but her claim seems to be an exaggeration at best, misleading and untruthful at worst. Local sex education curriculums are aimed at keeping kids healthy, safe and informed when it comes to this topic. The emphasis is on health.

Nothing in Rep. Poirier's bill requires parents to actually know anything about how the subject is being taught. It's merely aimed at making it as easy as possible for them to keep their kids from learning about "sex" - which Poirier and others apparently think they should learn from friends, parents, or perhaps the Internet.

Where does this choosing thing end? Should parents be required to specifically allow their kids to be taught about evolution? Should the Holocaust not be taught without a direct parental OK?

North Attleboro High School Principal Robert Gay says of the proposed new law: "I've been here nine years, and a principal for 15, and no one's ever brought that issue up to me. It'll just make it more difficult."

The real issue here is not sex education. Nor is it a Republican-Democrat issue or even a conservative-liberal one. It's about our representatives using children for political purposes.

If Rep. Poirier had spent less time on this ill-advised legislation and more on relevant and urgent matters, perhaps we would still have a Registry or an Express Registry (with parking even) in North Attleboro. With all the pressing issues facing local communities (local aid cuts, infrastructure repairs), sponsoring a bill her own local superintendent says will make things worse just seems - well, dumb. Other issues may not be as "sexy" as this, but they are more deserving of attention from Rep. Poirier and her constituents. We should be more concerned about being able to afford textbooks than we are about stifling what our schools teach.

It's time for less politics, and more work.

BILL GOUVEIA is a local columnist, parent, and grandparent. He can be reached at aninsidelook@aol.com.