Our Thing

Hey guys!

I'm glad that meeting came together today.

The video is done diggs and can be viewed at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlfVwQ7cTTY

Cheers,

Karen

Meeting Time for Thursday?

Hi,
I think I will probably send an email around, but I was just wondering when everyone is free tomorrow evening to go through the essay and presentation.
Victoria

Meeting November 26

Hi everyone,
Ok so just as a re-cap, today we will be meeting after the hlth 333 class before our tutorial to continue working on the paper .
At this link,

http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3jrULETBwt8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA15&dq=ontario+sexual+education&ots=epejANn9qk&sig=eGCLmkE9kob0ViuB96S-rRVeSTg#v=onepage&q=ontario%20sexual%20education&f=false

there is an article, "Why discuss sexuality in elementary school" by Kathy Bickmore. I think it is very related to our topic and should be helpful for the essay.
-Victoria

E-mail thread

Just to demonstrate that there was other communication than this blog...

Hellooo

so I started a blog and invited all of you through e-mail... not entirely sure if I've done everything right or not, but if all went well I also posted on it for you guys to respond to. Let me know if something isn't working :)

Erin

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Hey guys,

I just wanted to let you know that i have to go back home this weekend and i am leaving at noon friday so i will be missing tutorial ! i will make sure i have a post for the blog and will post an article next week as well.

Lexie Osborne

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Hi Everyone, 

This is the link for our tutorial blog. 

Group members: Karen Deng, Erin Dobbs, Victoria Onesty, Finn Lindsey, Lexi Osbourne.

Hope I spelled all of those right!

http://hlth333sex-ed.blogspot.com/?psinvite=ALRopfW4ob0VpyYoDkMmOC308K0RZMqNRK2NCWlPpEM1gq4o-19dq5y_yVFuMLaSgZa1xfNusVZTdEZWlGUaVDOG7k4TJSyQeQ

(Copy/Paste into URL bar if the hyperlink doesn't work). 

Cheers,

Karen

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Hey guys,
I am not sure how to make a post? I can only see how i make comments on the previous post, if you guys know how to could you let me know? I will keep trying otherwise should i just post it as a comment?

Thanks,
Lexie Osborne

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Hey guys... sorry, I figured out how to open the blog up to have you guys as authors too, so you should be able to post now instead of just commenting only.

let me know if it doesn't work :)

Erin

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Dear Hlth 333 group,

Karen and I were discussing that maybe we could meet Thursday afternoon or evening-(whenever works best for everyone.) We could plan everything out/ make a script, and then maybe we could film during the hour between classes on Friday or during the actual tutorial (I think Robbie told another group they could do this if they checked in with him at the beginning)  So, would Thursday be ok/ what time would be best?

 

Cheers,

Victoria

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Hey guys,

Thursday works for me ! sorry i missed last tutorial i just got back yesterday from a wedding so my apologies on being MIA. I can do anytime between 1:30pm and 4:30pm on thursday !

-Lexie

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Hey! I have class until 2:30 on thursday, so I'm game to do it then. and ya, I think if filming friday is good.

Erin

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Hey guys,

I have classes until 1:30, and then again at 2:30. Would be happy to meet in that time frame though!

I was thinking if the Thursday meeting doesn't fly, we can write our script in tutorial, film it directly after (or Saturday), edit and do the report on the weekend- and be done with it.

All depends on what works for you guys, so, let me know!

Cheers,

Karen

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Hey guys,
If at all possible if we could get the script done on thursday and then friday film that would be amazing just cause i have a million other papers i need to get done this weekend that would be great. i wont really have any time this weekend to get much done unfortunately.....

Lexie

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Hey everyone,

 

Ok, so how about today from 1:30-2:30, we can meet in the entrance of stauffer?

 

Victoria

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so are we all meeting at 130? i think erin said she has class till 230? we can still get started though. let me know!! ill hang around the entrance of stauffer to see if anyone shows up too.

lexie

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Hey everyone,

Lexie, Victoria, and I had a meeting, we put together a script in google Doc (which can be edited by anyone). 

If it works with everyone, we think we should meet directly after the class to determine who brings what (and is who, sort of things), break to get things from home, etc. Meet back in tutorial, show our script to Robbie for a once over, and then film it.

Script:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_62vdhI41LvLn04cwPwnJagVLysndZGNaUzkU1_wZ00/edit?hl=en&authkey=CM3SxNkI

Cheers,

Karen

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Hey Guys,

I posted on the blog but im not sure that everyone really checks it haha.
I was wondering if we can all get together sometime this week to go over the paper we have to write. It can just be a brief get together to split up work or we can actually get the thing done probably in an hour since its only 2 - 3 pages double spaced....
I was think maybe thursday sometime? that way we have the weekend and some other time to do our individual essays? i am done class at 1pm on thursdays but its just a suggestion ! Let me know what you guys are thinking.

Lexie

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Hey,

I'm up for meeting on thursday too, but I'm not finished class until 2:30. (This might actually be more like 1 or 1:30 though since it's an exam and I don't think we get to take the whole time)... so ya, maybe some time in the early afternoon??

Erin

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Hey guys,

Epidemiology midterm? Yeah.. Same thing, though I think we get the whole time on this one....

Which means I'm free from 2:30 to 3:30... and then after 5:30. Or we could meet on Friday or something?

Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to edit the video, but will hopefully get that done and posted on Monday.

Cheers,

Karen

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Thursday work for me, I only have one class in the morning...Friday, not so much, except either the hour in between lecture and tutorial, or after that. 

Finn

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Hey,

Thursday works for me, I am free after 1:30.

Victoria

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Okay so it sounds like thursday works best for everyone? Why dont we need then at 230 in the stauffer lobby for an hour? we can see if we can get a area to talk or possibly book a group room for an hour?

-Lexie

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okay so i went ahead and just booked a room now cause it was one of the last ones available. its booked in stauffer in room 144 on the first floor from 230-330pm thursday. see you guys then !!

-Lexie

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Video Update

Hey guys,

I think it might be a good idea to do our group write up on the google-doc.

(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_62vdhI41LvLn04cwPwnJagVLysndZGNaUzkU1_wZ00/edit?hl=en&authkey=CM3SxNkI)

Also, in regards to the video, I haven't got the time to do the editing thus far (busy week for everyone, i'm sure). I'm hoping to spend most of Sunday on it, and post it for Monday at the latest.

Also, I need to take short clips of everyone (for opening credits for the video).. likely tomorrow, it'll take less than a minute.

For music (in opening credits, etc), I think I'm going to use "Let's talk about sex" by Salt and pepper.

Hit me with an e-mail if you have anything you want me to incorporate in the video.

See you at the meeting tomorrow!

Cheers,

Karen

the write-up

now that we have the video out of the way, we'll need to arrange a time to do the write-up together, and prepare what we'll say in the extra time of the presentation/maybe go over some questions that might be asked? Shouldn't take too long, and then we'll be finished! woo.

also, please excuse my row of blanks on the doodle... i didn't quite get it at first

Erin

Post #5

Hey guys,

So I found a few studies that looked at more social outcomes of both homophobia, and also the lack of gay and lesbian issues in early childhood education. Here is the first article discussing the "invisibility" of gay and lesbian issues in early childhood education:

http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/validate.asp?j=ciec&vol=3&issue=3&year=2002&article=8_Robinson_CIEC_3_3

ABSTRACT This article, based on empirical qualitative data gained from a

survey and interviews with a group of early childhood educators, argues for the

inclusion of sexual differences, or more specifically, gay and lesbian equity

issues, in approaches to anti-bias. The article examines the discourses that

prevail in the field, that perpetuate the perceived irrelevance, invisibility and

exclusion of lesbian and gay issues in early childhood settings and education

generally. The discussion focuses on several main areas, including: the

prevalence of the dominant discourses of childhood and sexuality that intersect

to constitute sexuality as irrelevant to children; the pervasiveness of the

discourse of compulsory heterosexuality and the assumed absence of gay and

lesbian families in settings; or the assumed absence of significant gay and lesbian

adults in children’s lives; the presence of homophobia and heterosexism in early

childhood settings; and the perceived irrelevance of broader social, political and

economic issues to the ‘child’s world’. This article highlights some crucial issues

for practice and policy development in the area of anti-bias education concerned

with sexual differences.

And here's the article on the victimization of sexual minorities:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/f8246224364j8016/

The present study examined the link between sexual orientation and adjustment in a community sample of 97 sexual minority (gay male, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning) high school students, taking into account their experiences of peer victimization and social support within peer and family contexts. Adolescents were identified in a large-scale survey study conducted at 5 high schools. They were matched to a comparison sample of their heterosexual peers. Sexual minority adolescents reported more externalizing behaviors and depression symptoms than heterosexual youth. Compared to their heterosexual peers, sexual minority youth reported more sexual harassment, more bullying, less closeness with their mothers, and less companionship with their best friends. There were no significant differences between gay male, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning adolescents. Overall, both victimization and social support mediated the link between sexual orientation and psychosocial

symptoms. Among sexual minority youth, the link between social support and externalizing was

mediated by experiences of peer victimization. These findings highlight the contextual risk and

protective factors associated with non-heterosexual sexual orientation in accounting for the emotional and behavioral problems in this population.

They both contain extremely relevant issues to our project, and we can even use them during the filming process.

I was also just thinking, if there's room in the video, it might be good to add 2 contrasting examples of social encounters between children? So like one scene with a mistreatment of a gay individual compared to another scene, with open minded and educated children treating the same child with respect and decency. Might be good idea, but let know what you guys think.

Post # 4

The following are paragraphs are excerpts from the Ontario Physical Health and Education “Interim” Curriculum, which is essentially the same material as the 1998 curriculum with a few minor modifications. Here is the full pdf:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/healthcurr18.pdf

Generally, it actually seems pretty inclusive by mentioning that topics such as “gender identity and sexual orientation” will be discussed; however, I feel that it could be more detailed to minimize variability between teachers. For example, it could give a comprehensive chart or guide with answers teachers could give to questions on this sensitive material, instead of just stating that sexual orientation and gender identity are subjects that must be handled delicately. Additionally, the “Growth and Development” (a module that seems to span from grades 5 to 8) expectations could perhaps include something to the effect of “Development of understanding of gender identity.” I included the current grade 7 and 8 expectations as examples.


“Some topics within the Healthy Living strand can be challenging to teach because of their personal nature and their connection to family, religious, or cultural values. These topics can include but are not limited to topics covered in the Growth and Development section of the 1998 curriculum, as well as topics such as mental health, body image, substance abuse, violence,harassment, child abuse, gender identity, sexual orientation, illness (including HIV/AIDS), and poverty. These topics must be addressed with sensitivity and care. It is important that both teachers and learners have a comfort level with these topics so that information can be discussed openly, honestly, and in an atmosphere of mutual respect… Growth and development education is more than simply teaching young people about the anatomy and physiology of reproduction. For example, growth and development education focuses on an understanding of sexuality in its broadest context – sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, abstinence, body image, and gender roles. Acquiring information and skills and developing attitudes, beliefs, and values related to identity and relationships are lifelong processes.
Parents and guardians are the primary educators of their children. As children grow and developrelationships with family members and others, they learn about appropriate behaviours and values, as well as about sexuality. They are influenced by parents, friends, relatives, religious leaders, teachers, and neighbours, as well as by television, radio, videos, movies, books, advertisements, music, and newspapers. School-based programs add another important dimension to a child’s ongoing learning about sexuality.

The overall and specific expectations in this strand are age-appropriate and should be addressedwith sensitivity and respect for individual differences. Because of the sensitive nature of thesetopics, parents or guardians must be informed about the content of the curriculum and time of delivery. Teachers and learners must develop a comfort level with these topics so that information can be discussed openly, honestly, and in an atmosphere of mutual respect. The “healthy sexuality” expectations should be addressed only after teachers have developed rapport with their students. Opportunities should be provided for segregated as well as coeducational instruction.

The Growth and Development expectations from the 1998 curriculum document focus
on age-appropriate questions related to human sexuality. Students have opportunities to explore the physical, emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual aspects of healthy sexuality, and to develop the communication skills they need to express their concerns and feelings in these areas. They also learn to identify local sources of support related to sexuality and sexual health. Students are expected to develop an understanding of reproductive systems, the possible consequences of risky behaviours, pregnancy and disease prevention, and abstinence as a positive choice for adolescents.”

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT (1998)
OVERALL EXPECTATIONBy the end of Grade 7, students will:
• describe age-appropriate matters related to sexuality (e.g., the need to develop good
interpersonal skills, such as the ability to communicate effectively with the opposite sex).
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONSBy the end of Grade 7, students will:
• explain the male and female reproductive systems as they relate to fertilization;
• distinguish between the facts and myths associated with menstruation, spermatogenesis,
and fertilization;
• identify the methods of transmission and the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs), and ways to prevent them;
• use effective communication skills (e.g., refusal skills, active listening) to deal with
various relationships and situations;
• explain the term abstinence as it applies to healthy sexuality;
• identify sources of support with regard to issues related to healthy sexuality
(e.g., parents/guardians, doctors).
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT (1998)
OVERALL EXPECTATIONSBy the end of Grade 8, students will:
• identify the physical, emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual aspects of healthy sexuality
(e.g., respect for life, ethical questions in relationships, contraception);
• identify local support groups and community organizations (e.g., public health offices) that
provide information or services related to health and well-being;
• apply living skills (e.g., decision-making, problem-solving, and refusal skills) to respond to
matters related to sexuality, drug use, and healthy eating habits.
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONSBy the end of Grade 8, students will:
• explain the importance of abstinence as a positive choice for adolescents;
• identify symptoms, methods of transmission, prevention, and high-risk behaviours
related to common STDs, HIV, and AIDS;
• identify methods used to prevent pregnancy;
• apply living skills (e.g., decision-making, assertiveness, and refusal skills) in making
informed decisions, and analyse the consequences of engaging in sexual activities and
using drugs;
• identify sources of support (e.g., parents/guardians, doctors) related to healthy sexuality
issues.

Post Numero Trois:

Hey guys,

so I found this article that was super relevant to our topic. http://www.xtra.ca/public/Ottawa/Queers_absent_from_sexed_curriculum_in_Ontario_schools-3832.aspx

(I also copy pasted the article below... and highlighted key points)

Apologies if I'm making our already heavy reading load worse.

To make it extremely brief, the article is about how sex ed is to the teacher's discretion. School boards do not dictate that they must, because the expect teachers to do it... but teachers either generally do not. Furthermore, there is no way of knowing for certain what children learn in sex ed.

The lack of standardization is a major flaw in the curriculum- our target in the project.

I was thinking maybe we can come up with a guideline or something for teachers in Ontario, and show it in our video/ have it in our write up.

Also, we don't have class next week, do you guys want to meet at some given point and time so we can truck along with the film, or write up?

I'm going to try to find out the exact ministry guidelines for teaching sex ed... keep posted.

Cheers,

Karen

Every year, Grade 9 students anticipate it with a mixture of dread, curiosity and giggles. Teachers sweat over it. Parents have both advocated for it and damned it. It's sexual education and it's lurking in the background of the public education psyche.

Sex ed is mandatory, part of a physical education course taken by every Ontario high school student in Grade 9.

However, the terms "gay," "lesbian," "trans," "queer," "same-sex," or "homosexual," are absent from the official documents. In other words, the sexual education curriculum, which sets the standard for what children learn about sex and sexuality in high school, makes no references to the queer community. That gives an out to Ontario schools who want to give out diplomas but don't want to teach about gays.

But with Ontario now reviewing its sex ed curriculum, will gays be included in the new handbook, closing the loophole that leaves our young clueless about their own sexuality?

Deborah Courville, an education officer for the Ontario ministry of education, said the curriculum does not include specific references to queer sexualities because it is expected the curriculum will be implemented under an equality policy for all sexualities by teachers and school boards. Courville also points out that there is no specific mention of heterosexuality within the curriculum either.

"What the ministry does is write the expectations, but it is left in the hands of individual school boards and teachers to implement them," she says. "We hope that teachers will use inclusive language when discussing sexuality issues."

If a teacher chooses not to teach queer issues in sex ed class because it is not mentioned specifically in the curriculum, Courville says this exclusion is likely because "it's not something the teacher has a comfort level with."

Sherwyn Solomon, the instructional coach for equity for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, says, however, that while the expectations of the sexual health course don't specifically discuss queer sexuality, it is an issue the board considers important. While there is no set standard for the discussion of homosexuality in sex ed, teachers can teach it — at their discretion.

There is, however, no way to know for certain, he adds, who is teaching queer sexuality in the classroom and who is not.

"I can't say definitely that [same-sex education] happens in every school and in every classroom," Solomon says. "But I'm not sure you could have a discussion about sexuality without discussing it. It's like the discussion of sexually transmitted diseases. [The curriculum] doesn't specifically mention gonorrhea, but you can't have a sex ed class without discussing it."

While there is no standardized introduction of queer sexuality into the curriculum, Solomon says the school board does have partnerships within the queer community, such as the Rainbow Youth Forum, and discussions about gays do take place within the schools.

John Podgorski, the coordinator of religious education and family life education for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, says the Catholic Board deals with sexual education issues and queer sexualities in a slightly different way than the public board.

The Catholic Board teaches health and sexuality in a religious perspective, using a course called Fully Alive, which teaches sex, health, family and peer life and marriage values beginning in Grade 1 and continuing on all the way through high school. Fully Alive, Podgorski says, deals with individual and personal issues, relationships, sex and sexuality, commitment and social issues, and teaches sexuality as a result of commitment "in terms of marriage."

Each year, the course gradually builds on "age-appropriate material" from each previous year. The concept of homosexuality is introduced in Grade 7 and 8 as, "same-sex attraction," and then again in Grade 9 and 10, and then again as an optional course in Grade 12. In all these courses, in regards to sexuality, chastity — that is, not abstinence, but sex within marriage — is promoted to "be a value" along with the "procreative aspect of sexuality."

Podgorski stresses that within the Catholic school system, an environment of tolerance is extremely important and intolerance is unacceptable among the student body.

"In a school setting, the thing we're trying to promote among the [gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-sexual] students are the same things as what we teach our straight students," Podgorski said.

Contraceptives and safe sex — including the use of condoms — are taught in a much more conservative manner within the Catholic school system than in the public school system. Chastity and abstinence are considered to be higher priorities than safe-sex and contraceptive teachings.

Regardless of the school system, gay sex ed is sorely lacking, and neither system has a curriculum devoted to providing information about gays — or safe sex for gays — on an equal level within the classroom. That's got the twin effects of isolating young gays from their peers and keeping them in the dark about how to be safe.

Adam Graham, the Gay Men's Prevention Co-ordinator for the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, says the exclusion of homosexuality from the curriculum in high school is "totally disrespecting the way that certain people outside the status quo experience pleasure."

"I can see the potential for a problem," he says.

"If we're not including [queer sexuality] in a sexual health class, we're putting a lot of people at risk, which could potentially lead to new infections of AIDS and other STIs."

AIDS has had a powerful impact on the gay male community, he says, and there is still a stigma attached to HIV and homosexuality. Not discussing homos in a sexual-health class leaves a whole pocket of the homosexual community without the proper knowledge of risk factors for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Both the Catholic and Public School Boards in Ottawa offer AIDS education, although the relationship to the gay male community and homosexuality is "more specific than the curriculum would get," says Solomon.

Graham says it is his opinion that it doesn't make sense to leave inclusion of homosexuality in sexual education to the discretion of teachers and school boards, without government mandate.

"I think that this policy is in and of itself a problem," he says. "It's like letting a teacher in the USA selectively teach about the civil rights movement."

Post #2

Hey Guys,

So i found a pretty good article on sexual education in adolescents aged 15 to 19, it has some great statistics.
If you go onto Google Scholar it's titled Changes in Formal Sex Education 1995-2002. Its not too long of an article to get through but here's a basic summary and some key stat's i pulled out when reading it.

This article focused mainly on the trends between sexual education in school and various places between 1995 and 2002. They surveyed and interviewed mostly adolescent’s aged 15 to 19. The article shows that there has been a decrease in sexual education in birth control between 1995 and 2002 and more of a focus on abstinence.
I pulled out some interesting facts that we may want to look at. Im not sure if this is still the direction we would like to go but it has some great evidence in trends of sex education in schools.

- Sex education is being increasingly replaced by abstinence-only education

- In 1999. 23% of secondary school sex education teacher taught abstinence as the only way to prevent pregnancy and STD’s. only 2% had done so in 1988.

- In 1999, one quarter of sex education said prohibited from teaching about contraception

- Ages 15-19

- The content and prevalence of formal sex education shifted away from birth control instruction between 1995 and 2002

- Significant difference in gender receiving instruction à 81% to 66% in males and 87% to 70% in females

- By 2002 both male and female teenagers were significantly more likely to receive instruction on how to say no to sex than birth control methods

- Difference between genders, socioeconomic status

- By 2002, males had received abstinence education two years earlier than birth control instruction

- Older teenagers were less likely to have received birth control education in 2002 than 1995

- In 1995 80% of males obtained instruction of birth control by 16 and only 67% in 2002 by the age of 18.

- 90% of females obtained education by 18 in 1995, compared to 71% in 2002

- significant differences by race or ethnicity and poverty status in birth control instruction prior to first intercourse

- 2% of sex education teachers in 1988 taught abstinence only, but 23% did so in 1998

Let me know what you guys think !! And if this information will be useful to us.


Lexie

Post #1

Hey guys,
I found this article and thought it covered a few areas that we might be interested in touching upon... incase my link doesn't work just search "Beyond Plumbing and Prevention: feminist approaches to sex education" (author Helen Lenskyj) in google scholar and I think you should be able to find it.
It criticizes general Canadian sex education methods, touching on a number of items that are important but have been found to be left out of formal education of adolescents. I thought it was pretty good how it talks about where the education is at right now, and where it might be able to move towards (which is sort of what we had talked about in tutorial with doing the video in present vs. future comparisons?)
Key topics in this article include:

- sexual preference, including ages as of which this is acceptable
- legal issues as to what school educators are required/permitted to teach
- discrimination over sexual preference
- role of parents as educators
- gender equality (in power roles)
- birth control
- STI's
- HIV/AIDS
- male sexual violence
- sexual arousal/pleasure

It also mentions historical stats on changing opinions towards sex education over time, which might be useful for comparison?

The "Looking Forward" section was pretty good at hitting a lot of good elements that we might want to use for our video for anyone who might not have a chance to read over the whole article...

Looking Forward

What would an anti-sexist and anti-heterosexist sex education program look like? It would validate the full range of human sexual preferences and practices: heterosexuality, bisexuality, lesbianism, homosexuality, celibacy, genital sex, non- genital sex, and so on. It would recognize differences between male and female experience of sex, and between lesbian, homosexual and heterosexual sex, but it would also consider the common ground between them. And it would not spend time on the 'cause' of lesbianism and homosexuality, unless equal time was given to discussing the 'cause' of heterosexuality.

Furthermore, the curriculum would take into account the social context in which males as a group have power and privilege, and females do not; therefore it would be woman-centered, rather than gender-neutral. It would recognize that girls and women are affected in distinct and significant ways by such issues as contraception, pregnancy, abortion, homophobia, and male sexual violence in all its forms. For the same reason, a feminist model of sex education would include courses organized by and for women, in addition to coeducational programming. Finally, it would attempt to develop woman-positive images of sexuality—a celebration of our bodies and our selves.

Thoughts? Maybe we should just choose a couple topics to highlight upon since there are quite a few??
Slash, is this the direction everyone was thinking?
(I won't be offended if it isn't!)

- Erin