A controversial new sex ed curriculum that would have seen Ontario kids learn
about sexual orientation in Grade 3 and masturbation in Grade 6 will be
postponed and reworked, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Thursday.
It's obvious from listening to
parents over the past two days that the curriculum needs a "serious rethink,"
McGuinty said after an unrelated event in London, Ont.
"We'll take the (sex ed curriculum)
we had proposed putting into place back off the shelf," he said.
The government, McGuinty added, will
"create more opportunities for parents to lend shape to a policy with which they
are more comfortable."
The existing sex ed curriculum, which
hasn't been update for some 12 years, will remain in place.
The proposed changes outraged some
religious and conservative groups who say they're not comfortable with teaching
kids as early as Grade 3 about same-sex families.
Under the changes that were quietly
released in January, Grade 1 kids were to be taught to identify genitalia -
among other body parts - using the correct word, such as penis, vagina and
testicle.
In Grade 5, kids were to be taught to
identify parts of the reproductive system and describe how the body changes
during puberty.
In Grade 7, the plan was to teach
kids how to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections,
including HIV.
Opposition critic Christine Elliott
says some of the outrage comes from a lack of consultation, adding parents
should have had more say in the changes before they were introduced.