Finally, sex ed is back in our schools. As of December 2017, La Fédération des comités de parents du Québec (The Quebec Federation of Parents’ Committees) hailed the return of sex ed to Québec classrooms as a good thing. In 2005, the Quebec ministry of education had suspended sex ed in Quebec’s schools.
Twelve plus years later, they’re back.
No one is quite certain how this is going to work. In the past, parents’ committees have objected to some of the material presented in class. Teachers often teach sex ed without any formal training in sexuality.
Is the classroom really the best place to teach these courses?
In my years as a social worker on the street working with marginalized youth, the two subjects kids have raised the most are sexuality and spirituality. It’s on the street that we talk about these things. That’s where young people find a place to raise these subjects.
On the street there’s no overly-sensitive parents’ committee ready to condemn sex ed in the classroom. There are no teachers afraid of parents’ committees. On the street, the kid is king. Youths determine their own needs. Youths raise the subjects they want to explore and learn about.
Youths run the show on the street. And the subjects they want to talk about are sexuality and spirituality.
Do we have to wait for our kids to hit the street to talk about sexuality?
First seen in: Reflet de Société, Vol. 26 no. 3, été (summer) 2018, page 4
Leave a Reply