Ford’s sex-education fumble could end up offering an even better result for students

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives have screwed up the sexeducation file.

But as we sort out the mess, there’s actually a chance to get a better deal for our children. So it could actually work out for the best.

One of the signature achievements of Ontario’s Liberal government under former Premier Kathleen Wynne was the health and physical education curriculum which was rolled out in 2015 for Grade 1 to 8.

It laid out what students would learn about health and fitness, addiction and nutrition, sexuality and relationships.

Students learned the names of body parts by the end of Grade 1 and about menstruation, sperm, and pregnancy by the end of Grade 5. Masturbation was discussed in Grade 6. Consent and protecting yourself on the internet were covered in Grade 7. Safe sex and gender expression were explored in Grade 8.

But there were deep flaws. For one thing, this curriculum reflected not the wide array of cultures in this diverse province, but the specific values of the leftwing, secular government that gave birth to it. For example, Indigenous teachings and customs are mentioned numerous times, while other cultures are barely mentioned.

I never found the words “love” or “marriage” in the entire 239page document. Even the words “husband” and “wife” are discouraged, in favour of the more neutral “partner.”

The other flaw was lack of consultation with parents.

Although 4,000 parents were invited to give feedback, they were hand-picked by the authorities, one per school. Everyone else who might have had an opinion was shut out. That’s not real consultation.

Some parents protested by keeping their children out of school or health class. Conservative leader Doug Ford promised to scrap the curriculum.

And sure enough, Education Minister Lisa Thompson has already announced that the 2015 curriculum is gone.

The previous curriculum will be in effect until there can be a rewrite, which will include consulting tens of thousands of people.

First unveiled in 1998, that previous curriculum does not mention gender identity, consent or online safety.

That’s a real problem for the students, and one which the Conservatives could easily have avoided had they not been so intent on instantly dumping everything Wynne created.

Fortunately, sanity reigns at the local level.

Waterloo Region’s public school board chair, Scott McMillan, says there are plenty of ways to work around the gaps in the old curriculum.

“It’s a long school day” with lots of opportunity for students to get the information they need.

For example, digital safety can be covered when students learn to use computers at school. The raising of the Pride flag at schools “is an opportunity to teach about acceptance.”

When it comes, the new curriculum could end up being even better.

One flaw of the Liberal curriculum is that it didn’t address the dangers of internet porn, McMillan said. Now there’s a chance to fix that.

Whoever would have thought that out of so much chaos and rancour might come one last chance to get it right?