Thousands of Ontario students walk out of class
Protest was caused by Tories repeal of 2015 sex-ed curriculum
TORONTO — Across the province, thousands participated in a student-led protest by walking out of class on Friday, calling on Premier Doug Ford to reinstate a modernized sex-ed curriculum and improve Indigenous education.
It’s estimated that about 75 schools, 38,000 students, in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Guelph, took part in the day of action organized by two studentled groups March for Our Education by and Decolonize Canadian Schools. And about 35 students took their message directly to Queen’s Park, where they rallied out front.
In Toronto’s west end, student organizer Thea Baines, 17, helped lead a raucous crowd of about 500 students in chanting for change on a field shared by Western Technical-Commercial School, Ursula Franklin Academy and The Student School, which was one of the larger protests.
“No ignorance, no hate, let’s not go back to ’98,” the students chanted, many wearing purple and waving placards, with slogans such as “Education Equals Empowerment,” “Consent is Key,” and “Sex Ed Saves Lives.”
“A walkout is a classic student protest strategy it shows that we value something over our learning,” said Baines, a Grade 12 student at Western Technical. “In this case we value a good education over having an outdated and not-inclusive education, which is what the Ford government is bringing back in.”
The walkout, promoted through social media, was in response to the province’s repeal of the 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum for elementary students, which some social conservatives complained was not age-appropriate. It was replaced with sex-ed material, used between 1998 and 2014, that doesn’t explicitly address issues such as gender identity, consent and same-sex relationships.
The government will begin public consultations next week on creating a new age-appropriate sex-ed curriculum, which will include telephone town halls and online surveys.
Baines told the Toronto Star that it was important for high school students to speak out against the curriculum change because “it affects our little sisters and little brothers and our cousins.”
The walkouts also aimed to voice opposition to the cancellation of curriculum writing sessions designed to fulfil findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “A lot of adults have been saying you don’t know what you’re talking about, about these issues, or you don’t have to get to have an opinion,” said Indygo Arscott, 16, a co-organizer of the protests. “But it’s going to affect us and it’s going to affect the children younger than us.”