Updates to the sex-ed curriculum in Ontario have sparked discussion
On Monday, Feb. 23rd, the Liberal government in Ontario announced their highly anticipated updates to the health and physical education curriculum. Although this curriculum covers everything from mental health to the importance of physical activity among youth, what has really sparked a discussion in the province are the updates to the sexual education curriculum. While many of us are more than thrilled about these changes to the curriculum – which hasn’t been revised since 1998 – there are plenty of parents who aren’t so pleased who are making their voices heard.
As part of the new curriculum, students will learn the proper names for body parts as early as grade one. They will address puberty in grade four, rather than grade five as they did in the 1998 curriculum, and will begin learning about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in grades seven and eight. In addition, concepts such as consent, masturbation, sexual orientation and identity, and oral and anal sex will be introduced to the curriculum.
So, here’s where people can’t seem to get on the same page.
One of the popular concerns is that the education system is encroaching on a parent’s responsibility to decide what and when to teach their children about sex. The issue is that parents, not teachers, should be concerned with sharing this sensitive information with their kids. But I think what some people have to realize in this situation is that not all students will receive this important information from their parents. The education system needs to provide the information that will benefit all of its students, especially those whose parents might not be giving them the “Birds and Bees” talk.
Another widely contested issue among Ontarians is that introducing oral and anal sex in grades seven and eight is going to encourage students to explore these sexual avenues. Minister of Education Liz Sandals effectively defended the updated curriculum by pointing out that based on Public Health data, 22 per cent of students in grades nine and 10 will admit they’ve already engaged in sexual intercourse. With STI rates in teens increasing at an alarming rate, an update such as this seems long overdue. According to Sandals, in an interview with Today’s Parent, “…grade seven and eight becomes this sort of window where the kids are actually mature enough to talk about actual sexual activity, and when you’re hopefully going to hit them before they do something stupid.”
Lastly, in relation to the implementation of this newly revised curriculum, countless parents are claiming that they were not sufficiently consulted in this decision to update the curriculum. In response the Minister of Education has assured us that one parent from each of the 4000 publicly funded elementary and secondary school in the province was invited to complete a survey on the topic. The results were overwhelmingly in favour of an update to the curriculum, and it was based on the survey results that this revision was implemented.
Amidst the criticisms from parents, concerned third parties, and even school board officials (especially from the Catholic boards in the province), the Liberal party is not backing down on this program. Despite questions of propriety, Premier Kathleen Wynne ensures parents that the new program is “age appropriate” and “done in a way kids can understand.”
What we must consider, in my opinion, before criticizing the changes to the curriculum, is that kids are living in a different world than they were 20 – or even 10 – years – ago. It is so easy for young people to access unreliable and even offensive information on the internet. Whether we can accept it or not, youth are faced with issues of mental health, contraception, sexual orientation, and STIs every day, and it is invaluable that they know how to respond.
Yes, the updated curriculum introduces the dangers of technology. That doesn’t mean it is encouraging students to try sexting. Yes, the curriculum talks about gender identities and stereotypes. That doesn’t imply that it’s encouraging students to question their sexuality. I believe Robyn Urback from the National Post, although blunt, made an excellent point when she said, “Children will not decide to adopt a homosexual lifestyle for the duration of their adult lives because they learned in grade three that some families have two daddies.”
The goal of the new curriculum is not to shock, but to bring to the forefront the issues that are facing teens today. To quote Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, “There’s no way that we should be operating with 1998 curriculum in 2015.”