preview

The Canadian Guidelines For Sexual Education

Better Essays

Sexual education is an important topic which as to be addressed due to the growing debates as to weather it should be implemented within the school system. The Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education states that sexual education curriculums addresses a range of topics including “puberty, effective contraceptive methods, prevention of STI/HIV, communication skills, sexual orientation, interpersonal relationships, and media literacy” (Public Health Agency of Canada). Children need to address such issues early in order to protect them from early initiation of sexual activity, sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. The issue is then weather or not parents support such a program. A historical factor affecting sexual health education (SHE) is how it affects those strongly rooted in religion. Canadian education is divided between non-secular schools and denominational separate schools (usually Catholic). Canada is a largely Catholic country, with 67% of the population describing themselves as Roman Catholics in the 2011 Census (NHS, 2011). In Ontario alone, Card, 2010 found that, “as of 2003, there were 31 public school boards in the province (with an average enrollment of 44,000 students) and 29 separate school boards (with an average enrollment of 18,000).” The provincial Ministry of Education mandates the type of instruction that sexual health education provides, for both public and separate school boards. Mckay, 2014 found that within Catholic schools its

Get Access