Students walk out of class to protest sex-ed curriculum (10 photos)

Dozens of students at White Pines Collegiate and Vocational School walked out of class Friday afternoon to protest Doug Ford's decision to repeal Ontario's sex-ed curriculum.

Critics of the move say that ditching the 2015 curriculum and reverting back to the 1998 curriculum will thwart LGBTQ2S+ education, while putting an end to learning about topics like same-sex relationships, gender identity and masturbation. 

Students were holding up a number of signs and shouting slogans, while traffic along Trunk Road honked at protesters. 

Tanner Wabigwan, a bi-romantic grade 11 student at White Pines Collegiate and Vocational School, organized the student walkout which saw students protesting outside the school on Trunk Road.

“Somebody in Guelph started a petition against Doug Ford for being an ass because he’s trying take away some of the sex-ed,” Wabigwan said. 

Gay students need to know how to have safe sex, Wabigwan said.

Grade 12 student Carmen Osburn started a petition at White Pines, calling on Doug Ford to scrap the 1998 sex-ed curriculum.

“Right now it’s almost a 300-page manuscript, and he wants to change it back to the 1998 version, it’s only 50 pages, before there was social media and before there was legalization of gay marriage,” Osburn told SooToday. “We want to stop this, because our kids are our future, and we want them to know what we know.”

“They need to have the knowledge, because knowledge is power - and how can they run the country in the future if they don’t have the power?”

A full text statement from the Algoma District School Board follows:

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The Algoma District School Board was aware that there were student-led walkouts set for Friday, Sept. 21 in some areas of the province, to protest the Government’s decision to revert the 2015 Health & Physical Education curriculum. A very small number of walkouts occurred locally.

We respect that there are many personal feelings and values that impact how one perceives the curriculum changes and wish to remind our families that there are other acceptable ways for students’ voices to be heard without disrupting the school day. Therefore, we encourage students to work with school personnel to find other ways of having their voices heard and to respect the instructional time in classrooms.

We assure you that our staff remain committed to maintaining the health and safety of every student under our care and to ensuring that every student feels welcomed, included and safe in our classrooms.

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