'We live in a different world than we did in 1998'

Algoma District School Board (ADSB) trustees discussed several topics at Tuesday’s board meeting, but the topic which trustees seemed to discuss most, and which is certain to keep generating a great deal of discussion among educators, parents and students with a wide range of diverging opinions, was the Ontario Ministry of Education’s new Health and Physical Education curriculum.

Released by Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government Monday, the sex education portion of the curriculum has raised some eyebrows.

To be taught at public and Catholic schools between Grades 1 to Grades 12 beginning this fall, the curriculum includes a new emphasis on the concept of sexual consent (the age of sexual consent in Ontario is 16).

Children in Grade 1 will begin learning the names of body parts such as penis and vagina.

Discussion of “gender expression” and masturbation will be introduced in Grade 6, along with discussion of marijuana use.

Students in Grade 7 will learn about anal and oral sex and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

The dangers of “sexting,” the exchange of explicit photos and information online, will be discussed in Grade 7 as well.

In Grade 8, students will learn about “gender identity, sexual orientation and self-concept,” and also taught to make decisions pertaining to sexual activity and contraception.

“I want people to have the right information, so I’m pleased the Ministry of Education has released the (curriculum) document this week because there’s been a lot of information online and social media and now we have the document, which is 274 pages, and there are parent resources online, and now we can all speak to what we’re seeing in the document,” said Jennifer Sarlo, ADSB chair, speaking to reporters.

“This is a big curriculum, which is Health and Physical Education, and the sex education part of that is about 10 percent of it and it’s getting all the attention, but it’s a good curriculum when it comes to health and well-being, it’s a very full curriculum.”

“The hot point has been this sex education piece so now we have the facts and what we’re encouraging parents to do is go to the ministry website and look at the whole document to get a sense of what the curriculum has in it.”

Some parents across the province have expressed their opposition to the curriculum for reasons concerning their faith or other reasons.

Trustee Graham Lidstone asked if there is an opportunity for parents to opt out, that is, pull their children out of the sex education component of the curriculum.

Both Sarlo and Lucia Reese, ADSB director of education, said there is.

“In the end, that choice…is always there, parents can remove their children from field trips and different things, so parents have the right to remove their children based on things they might be concerned about in a curriculum,” Sarlo told reporters.

“What we’re trying to say is let’s look at all the information (in the ministry document) and be respectful of different opinions.”

“If, in the end, it means you don’t want your child to engage in one particular piece of the curriculum, as a parent you have that right, and we want everyone to be respected across the board if that’s the decision that would be made,” Sarlo said.

“We’ve always worked in partnership with our families when it comes to the curriculum…we’ll continue to do that,” Reese said.

“If parents want to make individual decisions (to opt out) they may do so.  There are many things parents can opt out of in the school system, in terms of when to bring children to kindergarten, to field trips and activities.”

“We hope people will take the opportunity to go through the curriculum…I hope parents will access the resources that have been provided for them.”

“We live in a different world today than we did in 1998, whether we like that or not,” Reese said.

“There are pieces (of modern technology, like cell phones) that have made some of that (sexual) information more challenging, there are certainly more options for children to get information today at their fingertips and we’re trying to be respectful of families and parents, but also to recognize the reality of the world we live in.”

“Our students are bombarded every day with messaging and we want to help them learn how to interpret that and protect themselves because personal safety is a huge component of that curriculum and I think we have an obligation to keep our students safe,” Reese said.

Reese said the curriculum is one that needs to be taught in view of public health.

“An amount of research has been done and we do see a decline in Ontario, in most areas, in teen pregnancy, yet the reality is the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases in our teens is up 81 percent.”

“It is shocking,” Reese said.

Trustee Sheryl Evans-Price said “it doesn’t sit well with me…if parents choose to have the absolute right” to have their children opted out altogether, saying children need to be educated about the realities of STDs.

Gladys Wiggins, ADSB vice-chair, who took part in Tuesday’s meeting via teleconference, said “I have a concern that a child eight years of age is learning about gender identity and sexual orientation and same-sex families, Grade 4 students age nine are learning about romantic dating, Grade 6 students age 11 are learning about masturbation…I don’t know if the curriculum will be changed to reflect my concerns, but it’s shocking to me, I just want to make that plain.”   

Teachers will be trained in the coming months to deliver the curriculum.

Other items from Tuesday’s ADSB meeting included the presentation of a cheque for $2,000 from Saija Paakki, Sault Insurance Brokers Association president, towards the ADSB’s Breakfast Programs.

It was also announced there has been no further public comment filed with the board in regards to the recommendation William Merrifield VC Public School be closed at the end of the current school year, due to declining enrolment at the school and its cost prohibitive need for $6 million in repairs.