New Sex Ed Curriculum for Ontario Schools

Hard to believe almost a month has gone by since I last posted. What a month - a record breaker here - the coldest February in many years! You would think that with being stuck inside I would have written up a storm but no. It took the topic of sex ed to get me writing again. My letter to the editor appeared in today's Ottawa Citizen.

"There are all kinds of interesting discussions going on this week, about the new sex ed curriculum being introduced by the Ontario government. From the little that I have heard, I think that the new curriculum will be of much benefit to students and their families. A few of the callers I heard on radio today were upset that their kids would be exposed to facts too early but the sad fact is that children and adults, all of us, are surrounded by sexual images and expressions every day.While many parents are no doubt doing a terrific job of educating their children on sexual matters, I think I speak for many parents when I say that parents can use some help from schools to keep up with the changing times. If parents are able to follow along with accompanying textbooks, this could lead to very worthwhile dialogue and reinforcement of lessons at home. 

For those who believe their kids are too young, I offer a few t shirt slogans. Recently, while visiting at a local school, I saw a four year old wearing  a shirt that read, "Lock up your daughters" . A very young looking grade 7 student was wearing a shirt that simply read, "Stud". I do not think that either student understood the meaning of the slogan that they were displaying for all the school to see. I think it's a shame that their parents thought those slogans were appropriate for their children. Yes, sexual expressions and ideas are all around us. Better for kids to receive accurate information from a well researched, province-wide curriculum, rather than pick up their attitudes from T shirts, TV and the internet."