Statement on Ontario’s Health and Physical Education Curriculum Changes
A student walkout at Bloor Collegiate Institute · Photo by Nathan Denette
We created Next Gen Men based on our own experiences of not having spaces or groups when we were growing up for boys and young men to understand gender, masculinity, and the societal expectations around what it means to ‘be a man.’
Our programs are gender transformative (i.e. encouraging critical reflection and action on harmful gender norms and stereotypes) and gender sensitive (i.e. intentionally designed for boys and young men). We have a waiting list for our programs in the York Region, and requests from parents, teachers, and schools from across the GTA, Ontario, and Canada.
But our impact on individual boys and men only leads to community and societal-level outcomes when complemented by other supports like girls’ empowerment programs, gay-straight alliances and LGBTQ initiatives in schools, supportive parents and adult mentors, access to health services and information, and robust, comprehensive sex ed, to name a few.
We are extremely concerned by Ontario’s decision to revert back to the Health and Physical Education curriculum, last updated in 1998. Ontario’s sex ed curriculum was updated in 2015 in consultation with roughly 4,000 parents, and was designed and written by experts in child development, internet safety, police, and social workers. It includes new and updated resources and material on cyberbullying and sexting, consent, the proper names for body parts, gender identity, and more.
The best-available evidence shows that access to comprehensive sex ed does not increase sexual activity. Comprehensive sex ed leads to well-informed decisions and reduces the risk of harmful sexual behaviour.
Teaching consent from an early age builds a foundation for healthy relationships and communication in friendships and intimate relationships, and does not suggest, encourage, or assume sexual activity at any particular age. Teaching children the proper names of their sexual and reproductive body parts improves their ability to identify and communicate, which is important not only for their consensual sexual activities, but also to prevent sexual assault and abuse (and/or to report it when it has occurred), especially for children. LGBTQ children and youth are already at a higher risk for bullying, mental health and suicide, and substance use.
It is not an exaggeration or understatement to say that comprehensive sex ed (and mental health, anti-bullying, LGBTQ-inclusive education) can save lives.
Here are some additional resources and suggestions for taking action, from our friend Kavita of We Talk Women:
The facts about Ontario’s sex ed curriculum in CBC News, an article with commentary from educators who have been training students, teachers, and other school personnel on the 2015 curriculum
We Have Your Back Ontario, an advocacy platform led by The 519 and a coalition of Ontario organizations, activists, and parents to keep kids safe and support current and inclusive education
— Jason, on behalf of the Next Gen Men team and Board of Directors