Sex education decision met with concern
Community push back against PC plan to revert to 1998 sex ed curriculum
Local stakeholders are concerned critical issues will be lost in the wake of Ontario’s PC government announcing plans to repeal the 2015 sex-education curriculum and revert to the 1998 curriculum this fall.
With the return to school approaching in less than two months, critics of the move are concerned over a lack of clarity when it comes to what will be taught after Education Minister Lisa Thompson said Monday the modern 2015 syllabus is being scrapped, but issues of consent, gender, same-sex relationships, and cyber safety could still be taught this fall at the discretion of the individual teacher.
Suzanne Mason, public education coordinator with the Niagara Sexual Assault Centre, says the mixed messages are confusing and she hopes the 2015 curriculum will return.
“The new curriculum had critical information for students,” said Mason, who hopes the centre will be part of the community consultation process the government promises to undertake. “When it comes to abuse and healthy relationships, it gave children the knowledge they needed to understand what was right and wrong, and to report any abuse or inappropriate conduct.”
That included, she said, age appropriate messaging for children in Grade 1 based around their body parts and what was right and wrong. It’s a critical age to get the message through, she said.
“One quarter of our clients were abused before the age of six. They are being molested through incest or sexual abuse before going to school,” said Mason. “We know, for most of our clients, they sometimes wait as much as 20 years to seek help. By removing this it just helps perpetrate the silence instead of educating students when they’re young and offering them tools to ask for help.”
While the centre offers educational programming to students in elementary and secondary schools, it does not have the capacity to deliver the messaging to all students. The curriculum, said Mason, at least provided some of the education to benefit students.
“We get disclosures almost everywhere we go with our program, including elementary schools. It could be sexual abuse, bullying and neglect,” she said. “Especially with internet bullying and sexting, we know it’s happening at the elementary level and it’s younger students being victimized. We need the tools to talk about this.”
While the government said it is embracing what was taught before the 2015 curriculum due to concerns from parents, Mason said there are many households not even discussing these issues.
“Parents are still not talking about these things, but if they are, it is just beware of strangers, yet statistics say in the majority of cases of sexual abuse the perpetrators are known to the victims,” she said.
“There needs to be appropriate discussions even at a young age to reinforce the message.”
Laura Hughes, a community educator and speaker who researched the 2015 physical education curriculum as part of her master of education, said the education minister’s statement Monday has her concerned about what teachers will be discussing in the classroom in September.
“It's hasty and indicative of a lack of direction that teachers are being instructed to revert to the 1998 curriculum, which made no mention of consent, gender identity, same-sex marriage, and cyber safety, and yet Thompson and the PCs are now claiming those four topics will still be covered,” said Hughes. “They are presenting a hybrid-curriculum model that leaves teachers unaware of expectations come September.”
Her research on the 2015 curriculum explored how it included and spoke to queer, trans, and non-binary youth to ensure that all Ontario youth were learning about gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. She said it’s a “devastating loss” to revert to the 1998 curriculum.
“Inclusive sexual health education saves lives,” Hughes said. “We need youth to have access to knowledge and conversations about consent, online safety, healthy relationships, and the diverse ways we live, love and identify. To revert to a curriculum that was written before smartphones and before same-sex marriage was legalized, without any mention of consent or online safety, is dangerous, careless, and puts students at risk.”
All students need to be represented in their classrooms and schools, she said, adding gender issues help create a “more inclusive culture” to support LGBTQ youth.
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates says the 2015 curriculum ensured students understood the realities of sexual violence, cyber bullying and diversity of sexual orientations. He fears without that knowledge it will provide “painful barriers” particularly for LGBTQ youth.
“We have some of the best teachers in the world here in Ontario and this government has stripped them of the tools necessary to teach our children and keep them safe,” said Gates. “I fully oppose these measures and will continue to fight to ensure our children are receiving a fully comprehensive sexual health curriculum.”
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff, however, says while the Doug Ford government campaigned on going “back to the drawing board” by holding “exhausting consultation” on the curriculum, he is confident teachers will have the latitude to address issues such as cyber safety, consent, gender and same-sex relationships in September. He said much of the concern has to do with age appropriateness of some of the lessons rather than the content itself.
“We’ve left room to discuss current social issues,” said Oosterhoff, who is parliamentary assistant to Thompson. “Parents have spoken to me about their concerns. What I am hearing is concerns around the age appropriateness of parts ... sensitive or explicit issues being taught in grades 3, 4 or 5 when they should be discussed later on.”
Oosterhoff says while the consultation won’t be completed in time for the start of school, it will begin “as soon as possible.” He said not only will parents be consulted, but also stakeholders, educators and students themselves.
“I am confident in our commitment to listening to parents, students and educators,” he said.