Today in positive news!
Apr. 21st, 2010 08:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teaMy province has unrolled the first overhaul to its sex ed curriculum since 1998 (is that really twelve years ago?), and this stood out to me as being awesome (and thus is also the most contentious part for all those conservative objectors who think telling a kid about sexuality will result in them being sluts.)
I liked boys enough I wasn't troubled by also liking girls until the middle of high-school, but so much of the pain I read about queer kids growing up is that nobody tells them they exist. This is grade three, so I'm sure it will be couched in pretty light terms, but there will be terms with which to talk about not just sexual orientation but GENDER IDENTITY. In public school! To ten year olds! Go Ontario.
(The suggestion that this is too early is clearly laughable - I want to hit that Reverend over the head for thinking (a) it's going to make kids want to be transgendered or (b) that clearly these things aren't an issue for ten-year-olds.)
Some of the most controversial changes are in the Grade 3 curriculum. In a discussion on human development and showing respect for peopleâs differences, for example, teachers are invited to discuss âinvisible differences,â including gender identity and sexual orientation, in an effort to reflect the fact that more and more students have same-sex parents.
I liked boys enough I wasn't troubled by also liking girls until the middle of high-school, but so much of the pain I read about queer kids growing up is that nobody tells them they exist. This is grade three, so I'm sure it will be couched in pretty light terms, but there will be terms with which to talk about not just sexual orientation but GENDER IDENTITY. In public school! To ten year olds! Go Ontario.
(The suggestion that this is too early is clearly laughable - I want to hit that Reverend over the head for thinking (a) it's going to make kids want to be transgendered or (b) that clearly these things aren't an issue for ten-year-olds.)
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Date: 2010-04-21 03:50 pm (UTC)Seriously, that's great news. And "too young" is ridiculous. I think that kids should always be told the truth, however, the truth should be told in age/development appropriate terms. In other words, when a ten year old asks you what sex is, you probably don't need to give them a detailed description of positions and techniques! :P
Really wish we could get the US on board with this way of thinking. Sadly, I think it's going to take some serious, serious thumping with clue clubs to change the general thought that "SEX IS BAD" out of my puritanical country. I have such wonderful, enlightened friends, it's good to be occasionally reminded just how far we have to go.
I came flat up against the problem talking to a unenlightened, but not unintelligent, co-worker who felt that sex should only be TAB A into SLOT B. I thought I had him when I asked if he liked blow jobs, because most men do in my experience. BUT he doesn't. Said if he wanted to have sex, might as well get down to it. I thought, "No wonder you're divorced. IT'S CALLED FOREPLAY, MAN!" I think he must have a very dull and unimaginative sex life. It's like eating hamburgers without cheese everyday, when a wonderful banquet is laid out for your pleasure right around the corner.
And, on another note, GOOD TO SEE YOU AROUND! :D
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Date: 2010-04-22 12:48 am (UTC)AS for sex ed - yeah, I cringe when I read the debates happening in the States, it really does feel like another planet sometimes. And OMG, that is the funniest story! How ever did you end up having a conversation about sex with such a... missionary co-worker? "No wonder you're divorced" indeed!
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Date: 2010-04-22 03:27 am (UTC)So glad to hear you're feeling less burnt out. I'm... I honestly don't know what I am right now. In between decisions, I think. Maybe we can find time to chat or I'll remember to email you sometime. So glad you're having a blast in your off-line life, even if I do miss my writing buddy! :D
Say HELLO to your guy for me, yeah? Tell him somebody he doesn't know in Florida says HI! Confound him early on so he won't think you're too weird later!!!
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Date: 2010-04-21 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-22 03:33 pm (UTC)So, every year in the US, on the first Saturday in May, there is a big horse race that's been going on for over 100 years. (You may have heard of it.)
We can't tell kids about the big horse race, because compulsive gambling wrecks lives and telling kids about horse racing will make them compulsive gamblers.
It's that sort of logic fail that blows my mind. Post hoc, ergo prompter hoc, yada yada yada. Good on Ontario for busting that to pieces in a typically gentle, nice, inclusive, and socially far-reaching way (aka Canadian) way.