Sex-ed opponents plan further boycott
Canadian Families Alliance to protest curriculum update by pulling kids from classes
A group that opposes Ontario’s sexeducation curriculum is calling for parents to pull their children out of school Thursday.
The Canadian Families Alliance announced details of its “Empty Schools Campaign” on Monday.
“On Oct.1, thousands of parents will be pulling their kids out of school to show their dissatisfaction with the premier’s bad curriculum, which is an open invitation for early pregnancies and STIs including HIV,” said Khalid Mahmood, a representative of the Thorncliffe Parents Association, which is taking part in the protest.
Monday’s news conference was held down the hall from the gymnasium at Jenner Jean-Marie Community Recreation Centre, where parents who have already removed their children from nearby schools have been holding informal classes.
The students, from Thorncliffe Park Public School and kindergarten-only Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy, have been absent from the public classroom since the school year began.
They spent their first week learning outdoors in R.V. Burgess Park and moved indoors two weeks ago.
Classes consisting of about 20 students sitting on blue tarps arranged around the gymnasium and kids are taught subjects including math, science and social studies by parents and volunteers.
The makeshift school applies for permits to access the community centre each day and typically uses the gym from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
On Monday, the school day was cut short by a seniors fitness class that had signed out the gym.
“It bothers me in a way that we’re forced to live like this, but sometimes in life to support certain causes you have to sacrifice,” said Masroor Shaik, who has three children attending the informal school.
Representatives for the alliance said the Thorncliffe community’s approach is the inspiration behind Thursday’s protest.
“We’re hoping that regardless of school board, Catholic and public, parents will declare we are Thorncliffe,” said Jack Fonseca of Campaign Life Coalition.
“We stand against radical sex education and we stand against the sexu- alization of our children,”
During the first week of school, Thorncliffe Park Public School principal Jeff Crane reported that 781 of an expected 1,460 students showed up for class.
Since then, most students have returned, with the school now only short about 150 children.
Crane said he does not support the plan to keep kids home on Thursday.
“Whenever there’s a call to remove kids from class, that’s always the wrong thing to do,” he said. “We can’t be pulling kids out of class to make a statement.”
Last spring, a province-wide protest saw parents keep their kids home for anywhere from one day up to a week to show opposition to the new sex-education curriculum, which is the first update since 1998.
Protest organizers are hoping that parents who oppose the curriculum, but have yet to take a stand, will use the campaign as an opportunity to demonstrate their dissent.
“Thursday is about showing our concerns about the curriculum,” said Razwan Issani, who pulled his four children out of school.
“The government says it’s just a minority who think it’s bad, but we’ll show it’s all of Ontario.” With files from Kristin Rushowy and Rob Ferguson