Heather Latter
Parents and grandparents in Rainy River District voiced their concerns last week about the new sex ed. curriculum the Liberal government is set to introduce in September.
The Parents As First Educators (PAFE) group, which claims to hold Ontario Catholic trustees accountable to taxpayers through grassroots activism, held the meeting at the Emo Inn last Monday night, with about 75 people turning out.
“It was a full house,” noted Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP and Ontario PC leadership candidate Monte McNaughton, who was invited to the meeting as a guest speaker.
“It was great to see,” he added.
“Lots of concerns from parents and especially grandparents, who are concerned about what their grandchildren are going to learn.”
McNaughton said that back in 2010, when Premier Kathleen Wynne was education minister, a proposed physical education and health curriculum, which included sex education, was leaked to the media.
“Within three days, [then] Premier Dalton McGuinty pulled the plug on it because there was such backlash from parents across Ontario,” he noted.
The sex ed. part of the proposed 2010 curriculum included teaching children about homosexuality and same-sex marriages in Grade 3, encouraging discussions about puberty (such as masturbation) in Grade 6, and talk about preventing sexually-transmitted diseases in Grade 7, which could include information about oral and anal sex.
“Kathleen Wynne promised that the next time they revisited the sex ed. curriculum, they would have consultations with parents across the province,” McNaughton said.
“Fast-forward to 2014, two days after the municipal elections were over . . . there was a press release from the ministry of education saying that in September, 2015 there would be a new sex ed. curriculum in place,” he remarked.
“So I stood and rose in the legislature, the only politician in the province to challenge Kathleen Wynne on this, and I asked her a few simple questions.
“Why are you breaking the Liberal promise to have meaningful consultation? Why don’t you just release the curriculum today for everyone to see?
“And what are you planning to teach our kids in September, 2015?”
The 2015 curriculum has not yet been released to the public, but the speculation is it will be similar to the 2010 version.
However, healthy relationships and the topic of consent are expected to be added to the updated curriculum.
“There are parents across the province who are really concerned—over 30,000 have signed petitions now—demanding that the curriculum be made public,” McNaughton said.
“I believe parents should be first educators on serious issues like sex education.”
A number of district parents share this belief—and the concerns associated with it.
“I am concerned that some of these topics are not age appropriate,” remarked Laurel Mose, a mother of two from Emo.
“The new sex ed. curriculum is opening up a gateway of information that kids aren’t ready to grasp just yet.
“Our public schools don’t push sensitive issues such as politics or religion, why should sex ed. be any different?” Mose asked, adding she does not judge people based on their sexual preferences, religions, political views, or appearances.
“That’s not what this is about for me,” she stressed. “It’s about educating my kids about sex when and how I see fit, not some generic education plan that goes against my family views.”
Mose suggested more focus be placed on acceptance and respect, and less about the mechanics of sex.
“I feel as though my right to educate my children about this sensitive subject is being taken from me,” she said.
“I would prefer this new curriculum to be stopped, or at the very least I hope it will include a consent form to make it easier for my family to opt out.”
“We each know our kids, their level of comprehension and maturity, and that needs to be taken into consideration, as well as people’s personal family dynamics and faith-based choices,” echoed Jodie Brown, a mother of four from Stratton.
“These subjects which are in question are sensitive issues and must be treated as so, giving respect and acceptance to all parental views and choices of how and what we wish for our children to be exposed to and at what age,” she argued.
“The government is clearly overstepping their bounds in telling parents otherwise.”
While the province asked parents of elementary school students for feedback on the new sex education curriculum, Brown feels the online survey wasn’t enough.
“[People] need to understand the ‘fake consultation’ with parents has already happened,” she charged.
“So they are going to try to push this through no matter what parents say.”
Brown stressed signing the petition is the only chance they have.
“There is no going back if you say nothing now,” she warned, noting many district residents already have signed the petition initiated by PAFE.
In fact, that is why the group travelled from Toronto to Emo for the meeting.
“It was told to us, through observations on the online petition, that throughout the Rainy River District, the Emo/Stratton/Barwick/Rainy River areas showed most representation,” Brown said.
“So they decided to hold the meeting in the Emo location based upon these findings,” she explained.
She is encouraging others to sign the petition to demand transparency and full disclosure of the curriculum agenda, and hopefully garner a chance for meaningful discussion and accepted feedback.
“The general consensus seems to be that no one wants this pushed through without adequate parental involvement or consent,” Brown remarked.
“It’s all been healthy dialogue.
“And we need to remember that whether you are liberal, conservative, Muslim, or Mennonite, etc., we all want what is best for our little boys and girls,” she stressed.
The petition, called “Stop Graphic Revisions to Ontario’s Sex Education Curriculum,” can be found on www.gopetition.com
It demands “an end to plans announced by the Ministry of Education to update the sexual education curriculum with changes that parents oppose because they are graphic and age-inappropriate, and don’t align with the principles of many religious and cultural groups.”
“It’s a publicly-funded education system,” McNaughton said. “Parents have a right to know what’s going to be taught.
“I think the best approach would be for the Wynne government to release the curriculum so people can get the 2010 versus the 2015 one.”
But not all district residents share the same concerns about new sex ed. curriculum.
Having read the 2010 version, Jackie McCormick indicated “the sexual health part is a very small part of this curriculum that is for overall health and physical activity.”
“The grade overviews so far have been age appropriate in my opinion,” she noted.
“From what I can find, I am not too concerned.
“My kids are already ahead of the age guidelines,” McCormick added. “I hope that the education we have given them, and will continue to give them in the subject matter, will serve them well as they grow and mature.
“Hopefully they will continue to be informed, open-minded, and aware,” she said.
“I firmly believe that the more they know, the better equipped they will be to make good decisions.”
Having learned additional information, McCormick understands the sex ed. curriculum has gone through an extensive review process—much greater than other curriculum reviews due to the sensitivity to the subject that some parents and community groups may feel.
She’s been told consultation has taken place with teachers, subject associations, federations and employee organizations, other ministries (e.g., health), post-secondary institutions, school council reps, and trustees and that students had a significant voice within the consultation.
McCormick added the Ministry of Education now is going through all of the feedback and making the necessary changes—that is why the document is not available.
“Yes, parents can teach their children,” agreed Meredith Croswell. “But what about those children who come from abusive homes and do not realize that things being done to them don’t happen to every kid?
“Or what about racism toward homosexuality within a household?” she wondered.
“If it is taught in school, then children are exposed to another view other than that of their parents,” Croswell reasoned.
“There are many parents who don’t speak about sexuality at all within their household and those kids are learning from their friends—some of it may not be accurate,” she remarked.
“I think it’s a good thing!”
The proposed 2010 Ontario physical education and health curriculum can be found at www.scribd.com
If parents have questions or concerns, they can submit them to the Ministry of Education.
