Why exactly are we going backwards, Doug Ford?
Before school even started this September, Ontario teachers started going rogue as they refused to teach the old sex education curriculum from 1998. This was one of the first campaign promises Doug Ford planned when elected Premier of Ontario.
I’ve got some questions though. Before Ford decided to go back 20 years, why didn’t he have a new plan for the curriculum? Why wasn’t the 2015 sex ed. curriculum good enough for Doug Ford? Was it because Kathleen Wynne was a woman and also gay?
What’s wrong with the sex ed. curriculum from 1998, you ask? A lot. For starters, it doesn’t include incredibly important topics like:
- Online safety
- Consent
- Gender identity
- Same sex marriage
As we know, one of the biggest changes between 1998 and 2018 is the upgrade of technology. Google didn’t even formally exist as a company until September of 1998, for crying out loud! Kids are now using cell phones, searching the Internet, and opening their eyes faster, sooner, and wider than last century’s kids. Because of this major difference, schools need to be progressing with their curriculum just as fast, if not faster.
The dangers of sexting, online forums, and even the safety of posting photos on Facebook are very relevant and necessary topics for young students to learn because of what they have access to in 2018.
Growing up as a LGBTQ youth in the Catholic school system, I know first hand how it feels to be lost and how it feels not to “fit in” when it comes to what your class is learning during sex ed. class. If it weren’t for my progressive parents who accepted me and taught me that I could love and be whoever I wanted to be, I may never have had the experiences I did growing up.
Unfortunately, not all children have these types of parents. If parents aren’t supportive, and the information being taught is old-school “my way or the highway” teachings, what happens to these children?
This alienation and isolation needs to stop. All children need to know that not all families became families because there was a mom and a dad with a vagina and a penis, and that not all families consist of said mom and dad and 2.5 children.
Whoever you are attracted to, as long as they treat you with respect and kindness it’s okay.
“Love-making” doesn’t have to take place between a penis and a vagina for it to be considered an aspect of healthy sexuality.
The world is a much bigger place in 2018. Children growing up in the elementary school system have access to almost endless amounts of information, media, and resources, but require guidance in order to sift through all of that and have an accurate understanding of things.
I want to say thanks to the teachers who are going against the old curriculum, and standing up for the children who deserve to be taught information that will help and benefit them right now.
Photo courtesy of CTV