Jason Dupuis said he's concerned about what his 12-year-old daughter will learn upon her return to school next week thanks to the province's new sex education curriculum.
He said he read the curriculum when it was released earlier this year, and finds it's too intense for children.
“I think it's too much for these young people, just how they go into great details about things,” said Dupuis, one of about a dozen people protesting outside of Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault's constituency office Sept. 2.
“I don't want to get explicit here, but I just think it's way too much.”
The province released its updated health and physical education curriculum in February, which includes an overhaul to the way sex ed is taught.
Updates include healthy relationships, consent, mental health, online safety and the risks of “sexting.”
The new curriculum sees Grade 2 students learn about the concept that “no means no” and Grade 4 students learn about online safety, text messaging and “sexual pictures.”
Grade 6 students will be taught what masturbation is and about healthy relationships and consent, while Grade 7 students will be warned about “sexting” and told about STDs and oral and anal sex.
Thibeault was not at his constituency office during the protest, but released a written statement to the media.
“While I respect the concerns of some community members represented today, the fact is, our current curriculum is dangerously out of date,” he said.
“My priority, and the priority of the government, is the health and safety of Ontario students. I believe this requires students to be provided with the information they require to make informed decisions about their own health.”
Those opposed to the sex education curriculum held protests at MPPs' offices across the province Wednesday, including a protest earlier in the day at Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas' office.
The protests were organized by member groups of the Canadian Families Alliance, including the Campaign Life Coalition, Muslim Moms Empowerment Network, My Child My Choice and Real Women of Canada, among others.
In the case of the rally at Thibeault's office, Dupuis was in the minority in that he currently has a child in the school system. Most of the other protesters were senior citizens.
Paulette Bonin, who said she's a grandmother, said there weren't many parents of school-age kids in attendance because most are either working or caring for small children.
She said the turnout was small because they only learned of the protest a few days before it happened.
The sex education curriculum is too explicit for younger students, Bonin said. She said some of the information could be presented to senior high school students, who are mature enough to handle it.
Bonin said she feels there should be a referendum on the curriculum, and people should be made aware of what it contains.
“There are a lot of aspects in there that are not compatible with the morality or the religious views of many people,” she said.
“We're not talking about a minority here, we're talking about a majority. We think that students that are being taught different aspects of sex activity are often not made aware of the consequences.
“That's very important. Children are not in a position to discern what's good and not good for them.”
Mark Butler, whose children are now adults, said he thinks the new sex education curriculum is “too much for our young children.”
“As a child in Grade 1, I don't remember ever being concerned about the things that they want to tell them about,” he said.
“In Grade 8, yes kids are curious, but you don't give them tools to further their curiosity. We have good children. Our children are raised in a great country, and we need to give them a little bit more credit than what this program has given them.”
