Tens of thousands of high school students walk out en masse to protest out-of-date sex-ed curriculum

Clad in purple, some with purple glitter on their faces, teens waved protest signs that included “Education Equals Empowerment,” “Consent is Key,” and “Sex Ed Saves Lives.”

The student led-protest was one of many that took place across Ontario on Friday.

It’s estimated about 75 schools, or 38,000 students, in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Guelph, participated in the walkout, which was organized by student-led groups March for Our Education and Decolonize Canadian Schools. About 35 students took their message directly to Queen’s Park, where they rallied out front.

“A walkout is a classic student protest strategy; it shows that we value something over our learning,” said Baines, a Grade 12 student at Western Tech, who helped organize that protest. “In this case, we value a good education over having an outdated and not-inclusive education, which is what the Ford government is bringing back.”

The walkout, promoted through social media, was in response to the province’s repeal of the 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum for elementary students, which some social conservatives say is not age-appropriate. This curriculum was replaced with sex-ed material, used between 1998 and 2014, that doesn’t overtly address issues such as gender identity, consent and same-sex relationships.

The government will begin public consultations next week on creating a new sex-ed curriculum. Outreach will include telephone town halls and online surveys.

Baines told the Star it’s important high school students speak out because the curriculum change “affects our little sisters and little brothers and our cousins.”

“It will affect the next generation of adults and we want everyone to grow up learning about their bodies, consent, mental health and LGBTQ rights.

“We want to live in a Canada that values diversity and equality.”

Speaking loudly above the chanting, Malikye Wyse, 15, said he was critical of the outdated sex ed curriculum for not including LGBTQ rights, noting an elementary school teacher of his belonged to the LGBTQ community.

“Since I grew up around that, I don’t quite understand why we would not include that in our sexual education,” said the Western Tech student. “There’s not really a difference between same-sex marriage and different-sex marriage, even if it looks like that.

“Love is love.”

That protest also attracted a few parents, such as Wynne Hartviksen, who was there to cheer on daughter Emma, who’s in Grade 9.

“She had the benefit for grades 6, 7 and 8 of the 2015 curriculum, in the most formative years, and I saw the incredible positive impact of that curriculum on my daughter,” she said. “There were great conversations about consent that I honestly wish I could’ve had myself, even in university … Great conversations about gender diversity and LGBTQ issues, and (being) openly able to articulate questions that she had, to us as her parents.”

Students also criticized the Education ministry’s for failing to include more Indigenous content. The government says it remains committed to revising the curriculum.

Isabella McConnell, 14, a Grade 9 student at Western Tech, who is Indigenous, said the curriculum needs to reflect the realities of Indigenous communities better, including their experiences in residential schools, which some of her relatives attended.

“A lot of the times, it’s glorified as something that was done to help, and it’s really stupid, because it wasn’t, and it caused a lot of damage,” she said.

At Bloor Collegiate Institute, NDP MPP Marit Stiles, who’s also the education critic, told the students she wished they didn’t feel like they needed to walk out of class to have their voices heard.

“It’s really important that students know that there are many adults across this province, many educators, who are really concerned about what’s happening and who share their passion and their belief that the education curriculm has to remain modern,” she told the Star.

Stiles left the protest, with a handful of notes and speeches penned by students that she intends to deliver to the premier and Minister of Education Lisa Thompson.

With files by Kristin Rushowy