Walk-out on 2015 Sex Ed “No ignorance, no hate! Don’t go back to ’98!”chants echo at City Hall
Making their voices heard, over a thousand students from seven Guelph high schools congregated in front of Guelph’s City Hall on Friday, Sept. 21 in protest. They walked out of their classes at Bishop Macdonell, Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute, College Heights, John F. Ross, Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI), Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. James to protest Premier Doug Ford’s changes to education, specifically standing up to bring back the revised Indigenous and 2015 Sex Education curricula. Students, Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner, and mayoral candidate Aggie Mlynarz gave speeches, explaining how students’ rights to a safe and informed education have been impeded by the Ford government.
This was part of a province-wide walkout, with over 92 schools participating in peaceful protests.
Sequoia Kim and Elise Kephart, both grade 12 students from GCVI, helped to organize the Guelph protest. They were motivated to join the momentum of the Ontario-wide event to stand up for the education of the next generation, promoting inclusion, safety, and truth and reconciliation.
Sequoia tells me, “We care about the health and safety of all students, and want to make sure that they feel safe, included, and understood. Everyone has a right not to be discriminated against. This fight for our own education is being fought above students’ heads. It’s important to show those who are making these decisions that we do not consent.”
Sequoia’s mother, Mary Cameron, adds: “We want our kids to have all the facts and to know an updated curriculum, like the one we had in 2015, which should never have been repealed.”
Lisa Mactaggart, another parent of teens, says: “What I liked about the 2015 sex ed. curriculum was giving the teachers a way to talk about bullying, mental health issues, feeling safe, and being able to understand how we are all different. I want my children to be raised with an understanding of fact-based education and I want them to be healthy citizens.”
The 2015 Health and Physical Education Curriculum was developed after almost a decade of consultations with 4,000 parents and educators. It was designed to cover content including: consent, cyber bullying, sexting, masturbation, same-sex marriage, and gender/sexuality identity.
By reverting to outdated sex education and incomplete Indigenous curricula, there are concerns for students’ safety, such as increased bullying, suicides, and children being taken advantage of through cyber sexting, unwarranted circulation of photos, and new modes of technology.
Some of the hand-made student posters carried these messages:
“No means no. It’s as simple as that. Teach kids about consent.’
“Indigenous studies are mandatory studies.”
“Put the TRUTH back into Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”
“Say YES to Inclusivity.”
“Sex Ed Saves Lives.”
Xicotencatl Maher-Lopez, a grade 12 high school student who helped organize the protest, particularly protested the cancellation of the updates to the provincial Indigenous curriculum. He spoke of an upsetting, confrontational incident that happened at the rally: “There was a truck driving around with a Trump flag on it. I saw it so I ripped it off the truck.”
Another observer told me that there were two men driving slowly in a truck down Carden Street. The driver had on a red ‘Make America Great Again’ cap. When Maher-Lopez pulled the Trump flag off the back of the truck, the driver stopped, got out, and gave a very threatening look. Bystanders began yelling at the driver to go home. Within a few minutes the police calmly retrieved and returned the flag, telling the driver to leave the premises, which he did. Then the police closed down Carden Street, blocking traffic from coming in.
Sly Castaldi, executive director at Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, said: “The best thing about this event is that young people are taking their future and their concerns in their own hands and they are letting their voices be heard.”
Many local politicians came to show their support, including: Eli Ridder, who is running for city councillor; City Councillor Phil Allt; and former MPP, Liz Sandals.
Sandals tells me: “I was the parliamentary assistant to the minister of education, who was responsible for developing the 2015 sex ed. curriculum. And then [in my role] as minister of education [I was responsible] for implementing the curriculum. I think the business about telling people the truth about the sex ed. curriculum is important. There’s nothing in the 2015 curriculum that isn’t there to keep kids safe and to keep kids behaving responsibly. That’s the whole point. The lies that have been told about the curriculum are so frustrating. But it’s great to see kids sticking up for themselves because it’s about educating students to take care of themselves.”
This protest showed strong, courageous youth working together to take back their rights to be heard, informed, safe, and educated with up-to-date facts. It also reminded the provincial government that they are the next generation of voters — and they will be heard!
Photos by Barbara Salsberg Mathews
Barbara’s Instagram: @maddysmom_4u