The Aug. 22 announcement by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, weeks before the start of a new school year, has provoked widespread outcry from various quarters, including the Saskatchewan School Board Association, Saskatchewan Teacher's Federation, and Saskatchewan's Advocate for Children and Youth, who say they were not consulted or informed of the change prior to hearing of it through the media.
Another organization that was not consulted is the Regina and Area Sexual Assault Centre (RSAC). RSAC has a satellite office in Moose Jaw, which is the only office in the city offering free counselling specialized for sexual violence. Approximately 70 per cent of their clients in Moose Jaw are under 18.
RSAC also delivers dozens of classroom presentations each year on consent, healthy relationship skills, and abuse prevention. RSAC's Kids on the Block program, a puppet-based violence and abuse prevention program for children aged 5 to 11 years old, has reached between 2,000 and 5,000 children each year that the program is delivered. They have never received a complaint from schools or parents.
The Ministry of Education policy changes are that:
- Schools must seek parent/guardian permission when changing the preferred name and pronouns used by students under the age of 16 in the school;
- Parents/guardians must be informed about the sexual health education curriculum and have the option to decline their children's participation; and,
- Boards of education must immediately pause involvement with any third-party organization, such as ARC Foundation and the SOGI 1 2 3 Program, connected to sexual health education as the ministry undertakes review of educational resources to ensure alignment with curriculum outcomes. Only teachers, not outside third-parties, will be able to present sexual education materials in the classroom. This directive does not include professionals employed by government ministries or the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Dustin Duncan, the province's education minister, said in the release announcing the policy change that “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.
"Parent/guardian involvement is critical in every student's education," Duncan added. "Schools will continue to ensure safe learning environments where all students feel included, protected, and respected."
RSAC issued a press release on Aug. 23 stating that:
"The Regina and Area Sexual Assault Centre expresses, in the strongest possible terms, our disappointment and deep concern for the children and youth affected by these decisions. By Minister Duncan's own admittance, these policies were brought in without any conscientious and ethical consultations with the very people who, reasonably, should have been consulted — including teachers and mental health experts.
"The Minister's decision displays a shocking ignorance of the challenges and risk that have been created."
Lisa Miller, RSAC's executive director, said in the release that research has repeatedly shown that education is fundamental in preventing violence. Although RSAC's work doesn't technically address sexual health practices, she said, the Ministry's decision could be an opportunity for some people to apply the ban broadly, endangering RSAC's work.
"We are concerned by the potential harmful impacts on children and youth if they are not able to learn [from experts] about the resources in their communities and their rights to a violence-free home and community," Miller said. "When I hear from [students and educators] that the impact of our presence was their empowerment in personal safety and health, I am deeply concerned about what is lost if we cannot continue to do this work."
Relevant Statistics from the Regina and Area Sexual Assault Centre
Accompanying the RSAC media release was a sheet of relevant statistics and feedback the centre has documented, including the following:
- 44 to 50 per cent of Canadian women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime
- 30 per cent of Canadian women report having been sexually assaulted at least once
- Only 45 per cent of Canadians understand the legal definition of consent and what it means to give and receive consent for sexual activity
- 52 per cent of sexual assaults in Canada are committed by friends, acquaintances, and neighbours, i.e. someone close to the victim
- In Canada, those who experience sexual violence as children are three times (3x) more likely to be assaulted again in their lifetime
- Saskatchewan's rate of sexual assault in one of the highest in the country
Statements from grade 9-12 students on their biggest takeaways following an RSAC presentation on sexualized violence include "Realizing that everything that happened to me wasn't okay," "Issues like these occur not just in our grade but begin as early as grade 8-9," and "Learning about what we can do to help someone [who] is going through something like this."
"In our experience, a policy change [like that made by Minister Duncan] does not best serve children," said Chantelle Priel, public education and outreach co-ordinator at RSAC. "We find it an injustice to create policy involving inclusion and consent, but yet it disregards a child's right to experience inclusion and consent. Of course, parental involvement is important, and has always been important in the education system, but now there's more of a hardheaded approach to that.
"We know that part of the problem is that many teachers and parents are not comfortable or educated enough on these topics to share that information. It can be incredibly difficult for a multitude of reasons for anyone to talk about sexual health and sexualized violence, let alone to a child or a youth, and they may not feel they have the vocabulary or the tools to have the conversation, let alone deal with a conversation where a child may make a disclosure."
Priel noted that research has shown that violence against children and youth is typically committed by someone with trusted access: family, friends, neighbours. There are risks within the home, and if children are not allowed to learn about abuse and consent at school, the odds are lower that that violence will be exposed and that the child will seek support for it.
"We think that children have the right to learn about sexual safety, and there should be no controversy about that," Priel said. "Children and youth deserve all of the facts ... The whole process of the school and education system is to create informed citizens who become informed adults who create a safe society and safe relationships and peer groups. In order for them to do that, they need to have all the knowledge. The facts needs to be told, the truth needs to be stated."
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