Wellness Within Condemns Proposed Changes to Alberta's Sex Ed Curriculum
Wellness Within is dismayed by news of proposed changes to Alberta’s sexual education curriculum, requiring parents to opt-in to lessons around sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The suggested change announced by Premier Danielle Smith would affect almost 766,000 students in the province and reflects growing tensions across Canada.
In Nova Scotia, this has caused strong concerns among parents and community members that 2SLGTBQ+ youth are not safe in schools and worries that formal restrictions could be coming to the Maritimes. More broadly, opt-in policies and limited sex ed curriculums endanger students by withholding crucial information. This can lead to people without adequate sexual education being unable to make informed decisions about their sexual well-being or unable to identify harms stemming from their abuse or discrimination. By withholding this education, schools fail to prioritize the health and safety of their students and fail to arm students with the knowledge necessary to prioritize their own health and safety.
Feminist organizations nationally have come together to oppose Premier Smith’s reckless proposal, and Wellness Within stands with these groups in calling for strengthened protections for trans youth and their families. At Wellness Within we know that quality, inclusive public education is essential to the safety and health of our most vulnerable. We urge community members and leaders to speak up in support of 2SLGTBQIA+ communities and in support of public education that is safe and inclusive for all.
Wellness Within is a volunteer-based registered non-profit organization that serves women, transgender, and nonbinary people who have experienced criminalization and are pregnant or have young children in Nova Scotia, part of the unceded and unsurrendered ancestral territory of the Mi'kmaq people.
Wellness Within supports people through the full spectrum of reproductive health experience; facilitates workshops and education sessions; develops resource materials; and advocates for reproductive justice issues.
Contact: Natasha Hines, Chair, (902)717-2956 or natasha_hines@outlook.com, and Dr. Martha Paynter, Director of Research, 902-292-7082 or martha.paynter@gmail.com