April
30, 2010
Who's
Afraid of Sex Ed?
I was extremely disappointed to read in
The Globe & Mail last week that the impressive new
sex ed curriculum the Ontario government had been preparing
to roll out to students was shelved, in record time, due
to a backlash by religious groups and a small minority
of parents. If you'd like to check out the full proposed
2010 Ontario Physical education and health curriculum
(the result of two years of consultation with 700 students,
70 organizations and 2,400 people) you can read
it in its entirety on Scribd. You'll find it's been
keenly misrepresented by its detractors who have been
gnashing their teeth and acting as though this new curriculum's
aim is to encourage young people to start humping each
other ASAP. But no, this curriculum is about education
and the alarm that's been raised over certain aspects
of the curriculum, like info about anal sex, is a case
of crying wolf. "The
only references to anal sex, for example, are related
to abstinence and preventing HIV." "Likewise
oral sex is introduced in the discussion of safe sex,
not because the curriculum is promoting it as an after-school
activity. (Young people need to learn, for example, that
new cases of genital herpes in Canada are largely caused
by HSV-1, which comes from cold sores.)"
Whether we like it or not young people are
growing up in a culture that is both sex-obsessed and
incredibly sexually immature (Facebook
bans pictures of breastfeeding while millions of folks
obsess over the details of Tiger Wood's sex life and some
senior U.S. financial regulators have been spending numerous
hours at work surfing porn). Children aren't growing
up in a vacuum—they're exposed to sexual content
(sometimes explicit) in music videos, TV, movies and videogames.
According to Safe Families stats the average
age of first Internet exposure to pornography is 11
and in 2007 the 12 - 17 year old group is the largest
consumer of Internet pornography.
Lyba notes that World Health Organization
research is very clear about the fact that, "When
children get comprehensive sexual-health education from
an early age, they are more likely to postpone the higher-risk
activities."
And yet still we have people like the National
Post's Barbara
Kay using their personal values as an argument against
this new curriculum and spouting absurdities like
this, "Human beings are the only creatures for whom
shame, guilt and modesty (especially in girls) are instinctive."
She proceeds to cite an example of harassment author Wendy
Shalit offers in her book A Return To Modesty. Apparently
in Shalit's childhood fourth grade class boys would tease
girls with the knowledge they'd just picked up in sex
ed class, except Wendy herself who had been excused by
her mother from these classes. Kay's interpretation of
these events is that "the boys never teased Shalit
because she was presumed to be ignorant. Mystery between
the sexes at that age facilitates the protective modesty
and privacy nature intended."
Could it be that the harassment Shalit wrote
about was a product of a society that shames women about
their sexuality (labels them either sluts or prudes, blames
them if they're sexually attacked while drunk or acting
in a 'provocative' manner) and therefore often excuses
boys for what should be unacceptable behaviour? And could
it perhaps be that this particular fourth grade's sex
ed class wasn't handled with an open attitude which would
have made the harassment that followed the classes less
likely? Or does Kay believe that, for example, a
seventh grade Vancouver island girl who recently had a
rape threat levelled against her by a male schoolmate
(in this particular school such threats have apparently
become commonplace), would have been spared that threat
if the girl had an air of ignorance about her and the
boy had a lack of sex education?
And do we want people with such illogical,
toxic views dictating that our schools allow young people
to wade in ignorance? Wouldn't we rather arm them with
knowledge?
A recent
New York City study revealed that straight women are
much less likely to use condoms during anal sex than gay
men. Only 23% of straight women use condoms during anal
sex, according to the new report, compared to 61% of gay
men. Women 18 to 24 years old are nearly six times more
likely than those aged 45 to 64 to report unprotected
anal sex. Women who engage in unprotected anal sex also
have lower HIV testing rates.
It sounds like there are some young New
York women out there who could use Ontario's proposed
sex ed schooling. And if you think Ontario's young people
could benefit too please join the
I Support Sexual Health Education in Ontario Facebook
group and email your MPP, Premier Dalton McGuinty
and the Minister of Education to tell them you're in favour
of knowledge. There's also an Ontario
Supports Sex-Ed Curriculum petition you can sign.
Templates you can use for your letters are
available
here and on Facebook.
You can locate your MPP's contact info here
and below is the Ministry of Education's info (don't forget
to CC Dalton McGuinty!):
Leona Dombrowsky
Ministry of Education
22nd Floor, Mowat Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto ON M7A 1L2
Tel : 416-325-2600
Fax : 416-325-2608
to:ldombrowsky.mpp@liberal.ola.org
cc: dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
I adapted the Facebook group's email message
as follows:
Dear [my MPP],
I was dismayed to learn last week that the
proposed Physical Education and Health 2010 curriculum
had been axed in response to a minority of ill-informed
detractors. The proposed curriculum seemed inclusive,
comprehensive and something that Ontarians could be proud
of.
I personally feel no changes should be made to this document
and believe that youth's right to education should include
sexual health education. Our young people have to live
in this society—closing our eyes to unpleasant realities
won't protect them from STDs or unwanted pregnancies or
teach them how to have healthy, respectful relationships.
As a writer of young adult books I'm very aware of the
sexual health complexities young people face in our society
and concerned that Ontario's young people should be armed
with all the knowledge we can offer them. Removing any
of the sexual health components of this proposed curriculum
would be a great disservice to them. I hope you will add
your voice in support of the curriculum and urge the Premier
to quickly resolve this crisis. Please do the right thing
by our youth, who need this curriculum now.
Sincerely,
[my details]
Let's get this curriculum back on the table
in its entirety!
Archive
Index 
Current
Blog Home
