Saskatchewan schools need to inform parents about the sexual health education curriculum and parents will now have the option to decline their children’s participation.
This announcement was made by the Ministry of Education Tuesday morning, adding that schools will also need permission from parents or guardians to change preferred names or pronouns of students under the age of 16.
School boards in Saskatchewan will also need to pause their involvement with third party organizations connected to sexual health education as the province reviews educational resources.
“Our government has heard the concerns raised by Saskatchewan parents about needing to be notified and included in their children’s education in these important areas,” Education Minister Dustin Duncan said.
Only teachers will be able to present sexual health material to students, except for professionals employed by government ministries or the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
“We also determined that while all of Saskatchewan’s school divisions had policies dealing with these matters, those policies varied from one division to another, so it was important to standardize these policies and ensure consistency of parental inclusion, no matter where your child goes to school.”
“Parent/guardian involvement is critical in every student’s education,” Duncan said. “Schools will continue to ensure safe learning environments where all students feel included, protected and respected.”
The ministry suspended Planned Parenthood back in June from presenting in schools after a student got a hold of a pamphlet separately from a classroom presentation that was described to have graphic sexual vocabulary.
The pamphlet hadn’t been approved by the school, and the executive director for Planned Parenthood had said they normally don’t carry material that teachers weren’t already familiar with and had contacted the school as soon as they had learned about the situation.
“We let them know how to handle questions about it and making sure that they had the tools to talk about it, knowing they would likely get some phone calls from parents,” said Planned Parenthood executive director Julian Wotherspoon.
Duncan said the family is the first line of support for kids, noting parents have a fundamental right and responsibility to nurture and raise their kids.
He said this announcement comes with the goal of having consistency among school divisions, pointing out that some divisions had been working to implement administrative policies that would mean parents wouldn’t notified if kids wanted to change their name or gender at school.
Duncan likened this to parents giving consent for kids to go on school trips, adding parental consent was needed for several things already.
When asked if teachers would be required to notify parents if a child went by different names or pronouns but didn’t directly say so to a teacher, Duncan said they would be working through that with school divisions.
He claimed this policy looked to help children in that instance, saying certain policies that some school divisions have in place would put teachers in a difficult position to develop a relationship with parents.
Duncan also said Saskatchewan has relatively smaller schools, so the likelihood of parents finding out through other means that a child was going by a different name or pronouns would be higher.
“We want to ensure there’s a consistent policy to say, if a child does express an interest that they want to formally change their name and gender, that if they’re under the age of 16 that their parents will provide consent, or there will be a plan to support that student so that they can get to a place where they can tell their parents.”
He said if a parent did not consent, teachers would be required to still use the original name or pronouns of the child.
When asked if school divisions would be penalized if parents did not support or give consent to a preferred name or pronouns change, but the school continued to support the student, Duncan said they weren’t talking about penalizing teachers.
“The direction will be that the teachers will not acquiesce to the wishes of the child unless the parents consent if they’re under the age of 16.”
He said these were very complex issues, noting that parent involvement should be higher in these cases.
“This is not about outing anyone.”
Duncan said supports need to be put in place to find out why a child feels like they can’t tell their parents.
When asked if the ministry has spoken with a single trans person about this policy, Duncan claims the ministry has had discussions with “a number of groups and organizations.”
“What I’m trying to keep in mind is we’re talking about children, we’re not talking about small versions of adults. We’re talking about children who don’t have the life experience that you or I have yet, whose brains are still being formed, who are struggling with all sorts of things like puberty and impulse control.”
He said he wants to be sensitive to this, but he’s heard from parents that they want schools to “get back to the basics” and that parents want to be informed.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) sent a statement regarding the province’s announcement, saying this puts 2SLGBTQIA+ students in more danger in Saskatchewan.
“The new policy violates the rights and dignity of 2SLGBTQIA+ young people and is not in the best interest of students. We have seen all too often what happens when students are outed at home. Some unsupportive families have kicked their kids out of the house or resorted to physical violence,” read the statement.
“Shredding the rights of students is repulsive. Implementing policy that could result in increased harm to vulnerable youth is disgraceful. The CCLA will support and take the legal measures necessary to protect the rights of students in Saskatchewan.”
Saskatchewan Federation of Labour president Lori Johb also sent a statement.
“Outing children as part of a political gamble is violent and despicable,” Johb said.
NDP opposition leader Carla Beck said school divisions and local governments are in the best position to be connected with parents and make those decisions themselves.
“For the Minister to suggest that he knows best, that a few folks in Regina should be making policy for the whole province, I think people will see right through that,” Beck said.
She called the new policy changes divisive and cynical.
“It actually puts kids who are already vulnerable at greater risk, and I think inexcusable.”
Beck said during their door knocking they’ve heard that people are frustrated with all levels of government, but added they are also fed up with the divisive type of politics that was brought forth today.
“You hope it would be the case for every child that their home is safe, and school is a safe place for them, but unfortunately in some homes that’s not necessarily the case that home is a safe place for them.”
“It’s a benefit for kids to have places where they can freely be supported to be themselves. It’s actually written right into the objectives of the Ministry of Education, is to ensure all schools are inclusive and welcoming and provides a place where kids can learn,” Beck added.
She worries this might signal to some kids that they may have lost one of the only safe places that they have.
Beck said this was a clearly politically motivated decision and kids have been put at risk because of it.
She said this wasn’t responsible leadership, saying Saskatchewan has three times the national average for teenage pregnancies and the leader of sexually transmitted infections.
“The government has seen fit to suggest that more information is the problem here.”
More to come…
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