Parents are concerned Ontario’s new sex education and the premature sexualization of their children

Parents protest Ontario’s sex-education curriculum

Ottawa church hosts information night to help parents get the facts

By Craig Macartney and ChristianWeek Senior Correspondent | May 11, 2015

OTTAWA, ON—Sex-education is a subject not commonly discussed in churches. Recently, however, the Metropolitan Bible Church in Ottawa, offered an information night where parents could find out more about the new, highly controversial sex-ed curriculum being pushed through in Ontario.

Ontario parents are in the midst of a massive protest campaign, involving members of numerous religious and ethnic groups deeply concerned about the sex-ed curriculum, which will be taught starting in September.

“Parents are looking past their sectarian differences to exchange information and strategies with one another,” says Teresa Pierre, president of Parents as First Educators. “All the collaboration has brought media attention to the multi-ethnic, multi-religious nature of the opposition and led to a seven per cent drop in support for the Ontario Liberals.”

Many protests against the curriculum have drawn large groups of Christians, Muslims and members of other faiths concerned about premature sexualization of their children. They’re also raising concerns that the curriculum teaches a worldview which contrasts with their own, especially around issues of gender identity.

At the information night in Ottawa, one parent was concerned that, “the curriculum is not morally neutral because it supports issues that are completely contrary to the Christian worldview.”

Parents also raised concerns that in Grade 6, children will be taught about masturbation as a “non-harmful means of self exploration,” and in Grade 7 students will learn about anal and oral sex.

Another point of concern for parents across the province is that much of the curriculum was first introduced under former Ontario deputy minister of education, Benjamin Levin. In March 2015, Levin was convicted on several counts relating to child pornography and counselings to commit sexual assault against a child.

Photo courtesy Parents as First Educators.

However, Julia Beazley, a policy analyst with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and one of the event’s speakers, says that on paper, most of the curriculum seems benign. She is more concerned with the curriculum’s ambiguity.

“The question for me is not with the document, but more to do with, in practice, what kind of questions and conversations they will have and what external resources will be brought in,” she explains. “As a parent, I want to know what resources are going to be used. We don’t know how this will play out in the classroom; it depends on the individual teachers.”

The curriculum encourages teachers to bring in “community partners” to help “mentor students” and teach on sexuality. Doug Sharpe, president of Canada Family Action, says the majority of community partners involved in writing the curriculum are homosexual and trans-gender advocacy organizations.

“I would love to see the Church being given the same opportunity to connect with and mentor the children of Ontario, but at this point it, appears the politicians and educators are reserving this privilege for leaders of the humanist religion,” he says. “Resources that are available now, like the guide entitled ‘It's easier than you think,’ present opinions that are in direct opposition to many parents’ views.”

Sharpe believes churches should support parents by giving the subject a place in the pulpit and providing them with the biblical framework to express their opposition to the curriculum.

Beazley encourages parents to get informed and talk to their kids about these issues before it comes up in the classroom.

“The curriculum is a wake up call to be active and engaged,” she explains. “Rather than playing catch-up, trying to undo what your child learned at school, get ahead of it and talk to your kids at home. You have from now until September to have those conversations and make sure they know whatever you want them to understand about sexuality.”