Queen's Park Toronto (BlackburnNews.com file photo by Sue Storr)Queen's Park Toronto (BlackburnNews.com file photo by Sue Storr)
Chatham

Teachers Rally Against Sex-Ed Changes In Toronto

Elementary educators across Ontario took a stand against changes to the sex-ed curriculum on Tuesday.

Around 800 members of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (EFTO) marched on Queen's Park to protest the provincial government's plan to revert to the 1998 curriculum.

President of EFTO Sam Hammond called the change by the Tory's "irresponsible, discriminatory and unsafe."

President of the Lambton Kent Elementary Teachers' Federation (LKETFO) Laurel Liddicoat-Newton reiterated that message.

"We can't sit back and let ancient curriculum be forced upon our teachers. There's so much missing from that old curriculum that puts children at risk of harm," she says. "The key things that were in the [2015] curriculum are what our children face daily now as they mature. Questions they have about their own sexuality, sexting, online bullying. Consent is the big thing."

Liddicoat-Newton says several local teachers expressed concerned with the plan to revert to the old sex-ed curriculum.

She says she's contacted the three Lambton-Kent MPPs about the issue but hasn't heard back from them.

"They need to look at the diversity of our community, and they need to listen to all voices in Lambton-Kent, not just a small group that have bent their ear," she says. "We have to use curriculum that is fact-based, that has been consulted on by 4,000 parents. It wasn't just something they pulled out of the sky."

EFTO has said it will defend any teacher who continues to teach the 2015 curriculum.

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