Jose Rosales, a student at Westside Middle School in Winder, Georgia, answers a question from another student at Charleswood Junior High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada via the internet during a cooperative education project with Canada January 24, 20
Jose Rosales, a student at Westside Middle School in Winder, Georgia, answers a question from another student at Charleswood Junior High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada via the internet during a cooperative education project with Canada January 24, 2008. The campus of Westside Middle School in Winder, Georgia is the host site where school officials, government leaders and partnerships from as far as Canada gathered to view a new era in learning by bringing virtual experiences right into the classroom. REUTERS/Tami Chappell/Handout Reuters/Tami Chappell

The raging protests against a new sex education curriculum in Ontario province have left an elementary school in Toronto nearly empty on Monday. Angry parents chose to keep the children at home and held protests outside the school. Reports say that some 300 protesters converged outside the Thorncliffe Park Public School and held out demonstrations against the sex education program.

The CBC' News report quoted Toronto District School Board spokesman Ryan Bird, who said, 1,220 of the 1,350 Grade 1 to Grade 5 students were not present in the class. Across the city, the Toronto District School Board recorded 34,762 elementary school absences. It showed an increase of 144 percent compared to any previous record of 14,191 absences.

Many of the objections to the updated curriculum seem to be borne out of religious sentiments. Proponents say the course will teach concepts like gender identity, sexual orientation and masturbation. But parents say these will not align with the traditional values and are inappropriate for school-age children. CA News reported that parent-led campaign is keeping children at home as feelings against Ontario's sexual-education curriculum are gaining momentum.

Minister Defends

Expressing concern, Education Minister Liz Sandals said she is disappointed, but made clear that the curriculum would come into force in September. Demonstrating parents at Thorncliffe Park said they would revive the protests that time. Parents may have the alternative of allowing the children to skip the sex ed classes. But some schools are wondering whether they will be able to run the classes, in case large numbers of students stay out of the classes.

The proponents of the new curriculum, however, argued that the updated guidelines have nothing new and are perfectly in sync with the rest of the Canadian provinces. Alex McKay, Executive Director of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada said the only aspect of curriculum that is not addressed in other provinces is matters like consent and dangers of sharing sexually explicit images.

Facebook Campaign

Meanwhile, the gravity of the protests could be understood by the way some Thorncliffe parents are running a Facebook campaign-Parents & Students on strike. “We are sending them to have their science, math and English and whatever … we are not sending them for sex education," noted a parent named Fatima Haqdad.

There is a large immigrant population in Thorncliffe Park with conservative backgrounds. They are the strident critics of the province's new plan and are very uncompromising. Parent Sihu Yahaira withdrew her three children from school saying gender issues are antithetical to her Christian faith. "God created only two genders, and they want to teach that there are more than two genders. That's wrong," Yahaira said at a protest meeting.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)

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