Teachers say differences of new curriculum are modest

Catholic boards recently received resources to help guide teachers and keep the new sex-ed curriculum in line with their religious beliefs, but a number of educators say the changes made by the province aren’t all that different from what they’ve already been teaching in many grades.

Shelagh Peterson, co-ordinator of religious education and faith formation with the Dufferin-Peel board, said the long-used “Fully Alive” program already included lessons on body parts in Grade 1, taught using a story about a couple having a baby.

Other issues like sexuality are taught within the context of marriage, and “if topics come up that are a little mature” teachers have been given resources on how to handle.

“If the kids are on social media or going through the Internet, they may come across things that are a bit more mature than they are ready for, developmentally. We say that’s something best left to mom or dad.”

If children talk about same-sex families, the message is “God loves you and your family loves you.”

She believes the new curriculum is compatible with Catholic teachings and said every year just a handful of students opt out. “I can count them on one hand, even this year,” Peterson added.

One unusual passage in the Grade 7 curriculum resources prepared by the Institute for Catholic Education contains a reference to how couples “release bonding hormones when they are sexually intimate. Women release oxytocin and men release vasopressin. The danger of premarital sex is the possibility of bonding to the wrong person for an indefinite period of time, increasing the risk of unwanted pregnancies and STIs.”

However, an expert contacted by the Star, said “there is evidence in the animal world that’s accurate, but I’m hard pressed to find any scientific evidence in the human world, particularly the (reference) about the danger of premarital sex and binding to the wrong person,” said Dr. Jerald Bain of the University of Toronto.