The Sex Ed Situation in 2018:
The provincial government has been announcing its intention to return back to sex ed since 2011, which was 10 years after such courses were abolished in Quebec schools.
By Mélina Soucy
The Formation personnelle et sociale (FPS) course (Personal and Social Development) given in the 1980s and 1990s have been withdrawn from schools, since they are no longer adapted to today’s socio-sexual realities.
To respond to a crying need for sex ed, in 2015-16, the Liberal government launched a pilot project in 19 elementary and high schools. The experiment was followed through on the next year when courses were introduced gradually to students of all ages.
The youths benefiting from 5 to 15 hours of courses per year. In both elementary and high schools, they explored 9 themes related to sexuality: sexual growth and body image; identity, roles, stereotypes and social norms; love life; sexual assault; pregnancy and childbirth; sexual action; sexual violence; sexually transmissible diseases and blood-borne diseases; and overall sexuality.
According to the Education ministry’s plans, these courses will become mandatory when school returns in 2018. Nurses, social workers and sex therapists working for a school board will be able to give some of these courses.
First seen in: Reflet de Société, Vol. 26 no. 3, été (summer) 2018, pages 8-10
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