Who will answer our kids’ questions?
Children today live in a world filled with technology and instant access to all kinds of stuff. The things they are exposed to may give them a false sense of reality and, well, the wrong information.
If adults in families aren’t comfortable talking about sexual health, mental health, consent, substance use and abuse, topics surrounding gender and scientific names of body parts, then who are kids supposed to talk to?
Who is the person they can ask questions to if they have them?
The answer is me. And about 83,000 other elementary teachers charged with keeping children safe in their classroom from September to June. Me. I’m the one who can tell students that consent is verbal and ongoing. (Criminal Code of Canada, please correct me if I’m wrong).
I’m the one who can give kids access to additional information and direct them to organizations like public health, so they can make informed decisions. I’m the one who ensures our kids are all welcome and safe in our classroom.
The rescinding of the 2015 Ontario health curriculum is so troubling to me that for the first time, I’ve been making my political views known on social media platforms.
Children and young adults are having sex. They are using drugs. I learned about sex when I was 16 from a Toronto Star article that was left on my kitchen table. Informed earlier, maybe I would have made different choices in life.
But the real reason I find the government’s decision so devastating is because I teach Grade 8. I see the physical, emotional and psychological changes in my students every day. By the time they walk out of our classrooms in June 2019, each student will be a completely different person.
I need to be able to answer questions for those who have no one else to ask. I need to be the one who tells them “no means no.” My kids depend on me.
I can’t sleep at night knowing that my government — which, yes, was democratically elected — is blindly ignoring the reality of daily life and the evolution of Canadian society.
My moral imperative is screaming right now. It has been for the last several weeks. And I don’t know what to do.
How do I get involved? What form of action can I take? I’ve signed petitions. Written to my MPP. Emailed the newly formed teacher snitch line. I still feel helpless. Jacqueline Canton, Toronto