In recent years, the topic of sexual consent has increasingly been at the forefront of discussion, leading to debates about the importance of sexual education and its proper establishment.
Earlier this month, Ontario released a newly updated sexual education curriculum that left a majority of Ontarians reeling over its content. Some say that this change is long overdue and that it is refreshing to see the provincial government taking the evolving cultural aspects of society into consideration and implementing them into its education system. However, others believe that the new curriculum is much too radical and in a number of cases, oversteps the boundaries of what should be taught in a classroom.
Some of the key components that are introduced in the new curriculum include the subject of consent, sexual orientation, sexting, as well as gender identification. These modifications are the first that have been made by the provincial government since 1998. Ontario hasn’t made any amendments since the coming of the millennium, thus making its curriculum the oldest in the entire country. However, with these changes that put presently relevant topics into the public education system, Ontario will go from having one of the most archaic curriculums to one of the most current. The premiere of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, has said that she anticipates the new curriculum to be implemented come September.
It is the hope that with this resource, teachers will feel like they have a better support when broaching these topics during their lessons. There are just so many aspects now to youth’s realities and cognisance of sex, that the boundaries between what is acceptable to be taught in the classroom and what isn’t are not always clear. Moreover, sexual health is not a simple concept to teach; it is not something as linear and straightforward as mathematics. One of the most favourable teaching options would be to have public health nurses come in to do formal presentations regarding sexual health; however, due to the limited resources of the public school board, that is not something that is feasible. Therefore, the introduction of the new curriculum aims to serve as a working substitution in providing teachers with the support they require to educate youth about the topic of sexual health as well as address the needs of the students in giving them the knowledge and awareness they need and deserve.
From first grade, children will be taught the proper names of all the body parts. As they move into higher grades, more complex topics such as consent and sexual orientation will be covered. By the time kids enter eighth grade, they will have discussed contraception as well as sexually transmitted diseases and methods of protection.
This move by the provincial government has raised concern and controversy among parents. There are various reasons for their apprehension and wariness of the new curriculum but they were all at a consensus in saying that they were not as involved as they should have been in the process of creating this document. They believe that they were not sufficiently consulted in such an action that would have a significant impact on their children’s educations. While parents do agree that their children will be faced with ideas and lessons regarding human sexuality at one point or another, not all agree that this curriculum change is the best way to do that. Perhaps in this case, the hardest lesson to learn is how to exactly to go about this so that parents, teachers, and youth alike can be acceptant about it.
To view the new curriculum online, click here.
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