What are your kids learning about sex in schools?
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PRINCE GEORGE–We brought you a story last week about STI’s being on the rise across the country, and spoke to a concerned Sexual Health Educator who believes more can be done to teach our children about sex in schools.
It’s a topic parents may find difficult to bring up with their children, and may prefer schools deal with the awkward conversations instead. But what do children really learn about sex in school? We spoke with Assistant Superintendent of SD57, Cindy Heitman who explained the curriculum to us.
Starting in grade four and going onto grade five, students are introduced to the changes their bodies will go through in puberty. The following years, grades six through 12 are focused on sexual health. “Sex Ed becomes more effective when you stop focusing just on preventing sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy,” says Kyla Turner, Interim Executive Director at Positive Living North. Heitman says that the school curriculum teaches Sexual Health to ensure it encompasses more than just how STI’s are transmitted, but how to have a healthy relationship, consent and mental health, which all dove tail off each other.
Parents are encouraged to take a look at the school curriculum in order to start conversations about sex at home, “we inform parents when we are covering the sexual health part of the curriculum so that they know we are talking about it with the hopes that it will spark some conversation,” says Heitaman.
