In 2005, the Quebec education ministry shut down sex ed in Quebec classrooms. But in December 2017, the wind direction changed. 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.
Ironic, given that too often in the past teachers had been refused the tools needed to teach the subject… for fear that parents’ committees would disapprove of what was being taught!
Parents’ committees objecting to talk of sex in the classroom had often in the past mounted the barricades to object to the subject being raised at school by teachers or other interveners.
The difference between sex ed and pornography is a nuanced one. Teachers or parents’ committee members are sometimes also those who’ve been sexually hurt in their youth, or have been the subject of harassment. Different cultures and religions see the issue in different ways. As well, a teacher may not be equipped to face down the problems of students who have been sexually assaulted.
Sexuality remains a taboo subject. When talking about it, it’s important to unearth the hurts.
First seen in: Reflet de Société, Vol. 26 no. 3, été (summer) 2018, page 4
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