Sexual education needed to end bullying in schools

I am very disappointed that Premier Ford is planning to quash the updated sexual education curriculum that has been so exhaustively researched and that is so desperately needed by the students in our schools.

I still have vivid memories of a boy named “Ronald” in my Grade 8 class who was bullied every week when we walked to another school for our home economics and manual training classes. The boys would relentlessly pummel him while we girls looked on. I suspect, but don’t know, that Ronald was gay.

None of us 13-year-old kids had ever received any education from the school or from our parents about such things. We need to spare the “Ronalds” of our next generations from these kinds of punishments. They are inflicted by their peers because of the misguided, inaccurate information imparted to them by their parents, or the lack of accurate information imparted to them in their classrooms.

Years later as a teacher, after teaching an English class a story about a boy whose father was unhappy about his choice to become a ballet dancer, I was approached by a boy at the end of class.

“Tell me honestly, Miss, wouldn’t your husband be upset if your son wanted to become a ballet dancer?” he asked me. As best as I could, I explained to him that my husband would be proud if his son was physically fit enough and appreciative enough of artistic expression that he was considering this career choice. Thinking back to this conversation now, I wonder if this parent would be one who would want to repeal the updated sex-ed curriculum.

Now, it is 2018 and I am retired. I have a transgender grandson, transitioning from a female to a male, whom I love dearly. Fortunately, he has strong family support from his siblings, parents and grandparents. This support is crucial to these kids. Without it, their lives can be very difficult.

What I want for my grandson now is that he live in a society that is supportive of people who have a variety of sexual orientations. He will not have this if the new sex education curriculum is killed. If it is killed, the ignorance will continue. Unfortunately, it is often the children of the parents who oppose the updated curriculum that need sex education the most. They need it for their own well-being so they will learn factual information about their own bodies and sexuality. I doubt their parents are providing them with this information.

They also need it for the good of other members of our society who, through no fault of their own, are homosexual or transgender. There is a sad history of young people who are a little different from the majority in society, who are bullied and who are denied opportunities because of their sexual orientation.

Please Premier Ford, let the new sexual education curriculum stand.