Current premier Doug Ford followed through his campaign promise of repealing the revised sex-ed curriculum by removing discussions of consent, same-sex marriages, online bullying, sexting and more. Essentially, we are returning to teaching the same sex-ed curriculum similar to the late 1990s. High school students across Ontario have responded by walking out of class in protest of this decision; in an effort called the March for Our Education.
Our fellow STA students have diverse opinions on the topic, here are their responses:
“I think they were right to walk out because not having proper sex education in high school is a worse idea than like… the invention of pop-up ads or fake man-buns or Crocs. Which is saying a lot. High school students are going to learn about sex anyway. Whether it’s from their friends, parents or in the worst case — the internet, they will find out because sex is a natural part of human life. Not having any sex education in schools would mean that they wouldn’t have access to accurate information and wouldn’t be prepared for life. The idea that sex-ed somehow promotes teen-sex is bogus and statistics prove so. It is the responsibility of schools and the government to teach students about consent, safe sex and relationships. Just imagine how much money the government would lose out on from unwanted pregnancies, STD treatment and sexual assault issues because people aren’t properly educated on sex. To me, it’s crazy.” – Katya Fedorovskaya
“I personally support Doug Ford with his decision as I feel it should be [the] parents’ responsibility to discuss sex ed with their own children, not a school. I understand that not all parents want to or actually do teach their children things like this, however, one can argue that it’s the same way not all parents take the time or effort to even discipline their children yet schools don’t take it upon themselves to teach their students manners.” – Mirna Aziz
“I believe that sex ed should not be directly taught to elementary school students as young as 6 years old however it should be introduced to grades 7-8 about the topics such as consent & the reproductive system as most of them reach puberty at that age. Later in high school, I believe that students should learn more in-depth about
“I believe that removing sex ed from the curriculum is going to be detrimental to students health. Assuming that students are able to receive these teachings from parents at home is ignorant as not everyone has that opportunity. Not to mention the fact that many people don’t feel comfortable with their parents giving them the “sex-talk”. Without having this in our
Disclaimer: Even if someone’s opinion contradicts your own, this segment should be treated as a safe space for every student to share their opinion.