Edmonton Journal

Trustee pushes for more comprehens­ive sex ed

SIGNS OF SUMMER Spring showers mixed with snow give way Thursday to greenery as a woman walks by a summertime mural along 103 Avenue near 114 Street.

- JANET FRENCH jfrench@postmedia.com Twitter.com/jantafrenc­h

Rising rates of sexually transmitte­d infections in Alberta are prompting a Catholic school board trustee to push for more comprehens­ive sex education in schools.

Edmonton Catholic schools trustee Marilyn Bergstra wants her school board colleagues to lobby the provincial government to include lessons about consent, prevention of spreading diseases, and informatio­n for LGBTQ students.

“This isn’t about promoting promiscuit­y,” Bergstra said in an interview Thursday.

“This is about teaching students how their body works, what are the risks out there, how do you protect yourself from those risks, what is consent? All of these issues that could have profound implicatio­ns down the road for our students.”

Bergstra said she’s not sure what approach district schools take to the topic right now, but

This is about teaching students how their body works, what are the risks out there, how do you protect yourself.

that the lessons should be consistent across Alberta. No one from Edmonton Catholic Schools was available to comment Thursday afternoon.

In an op-ed last week, Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Associatio­n president Adriana LaGrange said Alberta Catholic schools teach sex education courses according to the curriculum, and include lessons on abstinence.

Public health research shows teaching abstinence as a sole strategy to prevent pregnancy and the spread of disease doesn’t work, Bergstra said.

“It’s about being realistic. There are going to be students who will find themselves in a situation perhaps they didn’t anticipate, and when that happens, they need to be armed with facts,” she said.

The board also has a duty to prevent rising health-care costs where possible, she said.

Last year, Alberta Health Services said rates of syphilis and gonorrhea in the province had skyrockete­d, particular­ly among young adults, in part thanks to “hook ups” arranged through social media.

Alberta’s K-12 curriculum is currently being reviewed and rewritten. Education Minister David Eggen has said it will include updated sex education.

Bergstra plans to present her motion at a meeting of the school board Tuesday.

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Marilyn Bergstra

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