My Sex Ed

I am very excited to get back into research mode and present my thesis work at the Support of Physical and Health Educators (OASPHE) conference (http://www.oasphe.ca/home.php?a=welcome). See my poster presentation below!

There has been some push back with the Grade 6 Human Development and Sexual Health curriculum. It is assumed that the topic of "masturbation" is discussed explicitly and even encouraged. This is not the case. The curriculum expectation in Grade 6 reads:

"Describe how they can build confidence and lay a foundation for healthy relationships by acquiring a clearer understanding of the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur during adolescence (e.g., physical: voice changes, skin changes, body growth; social: changing social relationships, increasing influence of peers; emotional: increased intensity of feelings, new interest in relationships with boys or girls, confusion and questions about changes)"

However, there is mention of "masturbation" in the teacher prompt, which acts as a guide to help teachers discuss the mandatory curriculum expectation. The prompt reads:

“Things like wet dreams or vaginal lubrication are normal and happen as a result of physical changes with puberty. Exploring one’s body by touching or masturbating is something that many people do and find pleasurable. It is common and is not harmful and is one way of learning about your body.”

I have my own interpretation of this teacher prompt. Puberty is marked by a (difficult and sometimes uncomfortable) time of change. Body pains and aches may begin, and the body undergoes rapid and unexpected changes. A way in which to better understand one's own body is to physically examine what is changing and how it makes them feel. This prompt is by no means encouraging students to engage in sexual behaviour, but rather acknowledges that it is perfectly normal to do so.

We need to start normalizing sexual health as it is a hugely important part of development and identity.
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Source: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/…/curric…/elementary/health1to8.pdf

The Ontario Ministry of Education released a comprehensive review of the 2015 Sexual Health Education curriculum from Grades 1 to 12. They broke down the specific expectations and described the overall themes and topics covered in each grade. 

What is in the Health and Physical Education curriculum? Active Living

• Active Participation
• Physical Fitness
• Safety (e.g. bike safety, concussions)

Movement Competence: Skills, Concepts and Strategies

• Physical Activity and Sports Skills

Healthy Living

• Healthy Eating/Nutrition
• Personal Safety and Injury Prevention
• Substance use, addictions and other behaviour (e.g., gaming, screen time)
• Human Development and Sexual Health (sex education)
  • Human Development and Sexual Health (sexual education) represents approximately 10% of the entire Health and Physical Education Curriculum

Living Skills

• (building an understanding of themselves, coping skills, social and communication skills, thinking skills) and learning about mental health is incorporated across the curriculum

What’s changed in the Human Development and Sexual Health (sex education) section of the curriculum?The world has changed since the sex education section of the curriculum was updated in 1998, 17 years ago. Research shows that children now enter puberty earlier. Young people now have widespread access to the Internet, social media and smart phones, giving them easy access to both helpful and potentially harmful and incorrect information at their fingertips.

Educating children with accurate and current information, skills and strategies to help them navigate a digital world can help keep them safe and healthy.

The Human Development and Sexual Health (sex education) component of the Health and Physical Education curriculum guides teachers to plan what they teach with the goal of establishing a foundation of mutual respect and understanding for diverse perspectives in the classroom. It will not replace the role of parents in educating their children about sexual health. 

What will students learn in the Human Development and Sexual Health (sex education) section of the curriculum?The learning about Human Development and Sexual Health, like all the learning about healthy living in the curriculum, is focused on helping students learn about the things that contribute to their health and how to use that information to make healthy choices (and avoid potentially harmful ones) in their everyday lives.

Some of the information students will learn about this topic includes:

Grade 1 Students will learn:

• to identify body parts by their proper names, including genitalia
• about their senses and how they function
• basic good hygiene habits (e.g. washing your hands, using tissues)

When children know the correct names of their body parts, they can communicate clearly and ask for help in case of illness, injury or abuse.

Grade 2 Students will learn :

• the basic stages of human development (e.g., infant, child, adolescent) and related body changes
• good hygiene habits for oral health (e.g., brushing your teeth, flossing, visiting the dentist regularly)

Before puberty, helping children to understand that their bodies will change (e.g., losing baby teeth) can help them communicate potentially unhealthy changes (e.g., pain) to a trusted adult.

Grade 3 Students will learn:

• about healthy relationships with peers and family (e.g., accepting differences, listening, mutual respect, honesty, open communication)
• how to overcome unhealthy aspects of relationships with others (e.g., bullying, peer pressure, being left out)
• about factors and habits that can affect physical and emotional development (e.g., safe environment, caring adults, feeling like you belong, sleep, food, physical activity)
• how visible differences (e.g., skin, hair and eye colour, clothing, physical ability) and invisible differences (e.g., learning abilities, cultural values and beliefs, gender identity, different family types such as one-parent, two-parent, two-mom or two-dad, grandparents, caregivers) make each person unique
• ways of showing respect for differences in others

As a foundation for healthy relationships later in life, students will learn about what makes them unique and different from others, and how to show respect for all.

Grade 4 Students will learn:

• the physical changes that happen during puberty, and the emotional and social impact that changes can have on a developing child
• how personal hygiene needs may change during puberty (e.g., the increased importance of regular bathing)

Learning about the effects of puberty before most students fully experience it helps prepare young people for changes in their bodies, emotions and social relationships. 

Today, children enter puberty earlier: on average, girls enter puberty between 8-13 years old and boys enter puberty between 9-14 years old.

Grade 5 Students will learn:

• to identify parts of the reproductive system, and how the body changes during puberty
• about the process of menstruation and sperm production
• to describe emotional and interpersonal stresses related to puberty
• to identify strategies to manage stress and enhance their emotional well-being and mental health

Puberty can be stressful, and helping students to understand changes in their bodies can help them cope. Students will also continue to learn about the importance of showing respect for all, including those who may be entering puberty earlier or later than peers.

Grade 6 Students will learn:

• about factors that may affect the development of a person’s self-concept or personal identity (e.g., body image, stereotypes, self-awareness, cultural and gender identity)
• the physical, social and emotional changes that may occur in adolescence after the initial onset of puberty (e.g., body growth, skin changes, increasing influence of peers, increased intensity of feelings) and how this impacts healthy relationships
• to make decisions in their personal relationships that demonstrate respect for themselves and others, including the importance of consent and clear communication
• how stereotypes, such as homophobia and assumptions about gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, culture and abilities, can affect a how a person feels about themselves, their feelings of belonging and relationships with others
• appropriate ways to respond to and change assumptions and stereotypes

As children grow older and enter adolescence, understanding how the many changes happening in their lives may affect them and their peers helps build a healthy sense of who they are.

By Grade 6, students have developed some self awareness and coping skills and also learned critical thinking and reflective skills to solve problems and examine issues, which they will apply to learning about stereotypes and assumptions.

Through challenging these stereotypes and assumptions, they not only continue to learn respect for others, but also self-confidence in their own identity.

Grade 7 Students will learn:

• the importance of having a shared understanding with a partner about: delaying sexual activity until older, reasons for not becoming sexually active, the concept of consent and how to communicate consent, and the need to clearly communicate and understand decisions about sexual activity in a healthy relationship
• how to identify common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and describe their symptoms
• how to prevent STIs (including HIV) and unintended pregnancy, including delaying first intercourse and other sexual activities until they are older, and using condoms consistently if and when they become sexually active
• physical, emotional, social and psychological factors to consider when making sexual health decisions (e.g., STIs, pregnancy, side effects of contraception, social labelling, cultural teachings, gender identity, and impact on other relationships)
• how relationships with others and sexual health may be affected by physical and emotional changes in puberty and adolescence

Students need information and skills to make sound decisions about their health and well-being before they face a situation where they may need that information.

Teaching about sexual health and development does not increase sexual behaviour, and can actually prevent risky activity.

Grade 8 Students will learn about:

• factors that could affect someone’s ability to make safe and healthy decisions about sexual activity
• sources of support regarding sexual health (e.g., parents, health professionals, in-school resources, local community groups, religious leaders, an elder)
• gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, and to identify factors that can help all young people to develop positive self-concepts

Learning respect for their peers helps to ensure young people build positive, healthy self-concepts.

Grades 9-12 Students are required to take one Health and Physical Education credit in high school. However, they may choose to continue to take additional course in other grades. These courses build on learning from Grades 1-8. See below for what students will learn in the in the Human Development and Sexual Health component of those courses.

Grade 9 Students will learn about:

• preventing STIs and unintended pregnancies and helpful sources of information and support (e.g., doctor, public health unit)
• gender identity and sexual orientation, and how different things like acceptance, stigma, stereotypes, self-awareness, culture, religion, and media can influence a person’s understanding of themselves.
• how to build healthy relationships with peers, family members and potential romantic partners (e.g., honesty, open communication and respect)
• how to think in advance and to apply their knowledge of sexual health and safety, including consent and sexual limits

High school students are encouraged to think critically about the information they’ve learned about sexual health, in the same way they are encouraged to apply these same critical thinking skills to decisions about food choices, personal safety and fitness.

Students also learn about the potential implications of online activities (e.g., texting and sending personal photos) and how to use electronic technologies appropriately.

Grade 10 Students will learn:

• how a variety of factors (e.g., their values/beliefs, what they see in media, setting and communicating limits) can influence a person’s decisions about sexual activity
• common misconceptions about sexuality in our culture, and to explain how these may cause harm to people and how they can be responded to critically and fairly
• how being in an exclusive romantic relationship with another person may affect them and their relationships with others

 Providing information to students helps them to understand and express their identity as it develops.

Grade 11 Students will learn:

• about mental health/illnesses and addictions, their causes and symptoms, and their effects on personal health and well-being
• how proactive health measures and supports (e.g., regular medical exams such as Pap tests)  can minimize the risk of reproductive or sexual health problems
• how to use personal and interpersonal skills to deal with stress and help others in stressful situations (e.g., abusive relationships, illness, separation/divorce)
• the negative stigma sometimes associated with mental illness and ways to reduce it in their community

As students near the end of high school, they learn self-awareness and self-monitoring skills that help them to:

• understand their strengths and needs
• take responsibility for their actions
• monitor their own health progress and fitness goals
• acquire health knowledge and apply it throughout their lifetime

Grade 12 Students will learn:

• how relationships may develop through various stages (with an emphasis on communicating about those stages)
• the skills and strategies needed to maintain a satisfactory relationship as it evolves (e.g., conflict resolution strategies)
• skills and resources they will need to maintain their health and well-being as they become more independent
• about how their strengths and interest can be applied to the development of life plans and goals
• to analyze how different relations portrayed in the media, and how they can take action to encourage more realistic and inclusive messaging

The final year of high school emphasizes how students can maintain the habits of healthy, active living throughout their lives

http://www.ontario.ca/education-and-training/ontario-health-and-physical-education-curriculum-including-sex-education

There are many misconceptions about Ontario's 2015 Sexual Health Education curricula, especially for Grades 1-8. I have read dozens upon dozens of articles about the new curricula, I have seen newscasts about the new curricula, I have talked to parents, teachers, and principals - and most of what I hear is inaccurate. 

I came across an amazing resource developed by People For Education that clarified a lot of the erroneous beliefs about the new curricula. You can check out the link below or open the file attached.

http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Sex-Education-tip-sheet-2015.pdf