Raelyn Fox asks for policy to be made on reading materials allowed in schools
Local parents are asking the Prairie Rose School Division (PRSD) to create a policy that keeps sexual resources out of schools.
At PRSD’s board meeting last week, parent Raelyn Fox presented with her husband by her side, asking the board to clearly deem which materials are appropriate for minors and which aren’t. Fox’s presentation comes after one she made late last year when she asked for sexually explicit reading materials to be removed from Carman Collegiate’s library.
Her Jan. 29 presentation started on a topic different from the main idea — comprehensive sexuality education. Manitoba Education’s new sexual education curriculum hasn’t been released, but Fox said the organization is looking at having students receive sexual education in every subject, beginning in Kindergarten. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines comprehensive sexual education as giving young people accurate, age-appropriate information about sexuality and their sexual and reproductive health, which is “critical” for health and survival. Topics for each class would be tailored to the age group. They could include families and relationships, respect, consent, bodily autonomy, anatomy, puberty and menstruation, contraception and pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections.
The shift from teaching sexual education as a separate course, one parents could opt their children out of, would make the course’s content obligatory for all students in Manitoba regardless of religion or moral conflict.
The WHO states that “well-designed and well-delivered sexuality education programs support positive decision-making around sexual health. Evidence shows that young people are more likely to initiate sexual activity later – and when they do have sex, to practice safer sex – when they are better informed about sexuality, sexual relations and their rights.”
Fox continued to mention the Sexual Education Resource Centre (SERC) and the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN), two organizations that advocate strongly for comprehensive sexual education that Manitoba Education relies heavily on.
“SERC and SIECCAN would like to teach your child how to say yes to acts that bring them sexual pleasure and how to say yes to sex,” said Fox, adding the WHO and the United Nations (UN) have recently brought forth the idea that children are sexual beings from birth and should be autonomous decision-makers when it comes to their own bodies.
With the Manitoba government committing to the UN 2030 agenda, which says comprehensive sexual education is vital to advancing health outcomes and gender equality, the province is committing to implementing comprehensive sexual education in its schools by 2030.
“Before we celebrate this union, you should know that the United Nations’ fundamental belief is that children have the human right to engage in whatever sexual acts bring them pleasure with whoever, regardless of age and regardless of the country’s laws, as long as the child consents,” said Fox. “These organizations are attempting to remove the parent from the equation. Canadian parents not only have the right but the duty to educate the child, and this includes the moral education as well as the physical and psychological protection of the child.”
She said if comprehensive sexual education is implemented in schools, it could promote pedophilia and be seen as grooming children for sex. It could even lead to, she said, the practice of having sex with a consenting child being viewed as acceptable.
Fox then referenced PRSD’s Aug. 28 board meeting, where she asked the trustees to “define the limit of what materials this board supports for minors.”
“After reading your response, it appears that there is no limit to the sexual scope of what can be brought into PRSD as long as it’s said to be age appropriate and promote diversity,” said Fox.
According to a Manitoba Advocate news release from March 2023, 400 children fall victim to the Manitoba sex trade each year. Fox said with 90 per cent of those children attending school, school divisions should be working to protect their children and reduce that number.
“If you are defending books that tell kids it’s OK to have sex with adults, you are on the wrong side of history,” said Fox.
In October of last year, Fox circulated a petition asking for all books in PRSD that display sexually explicit images, contain sexually explicit content, or instruct on sexual touching be removed from classrooms library stacks, and the online library system. That petition collected 1,331 signatures from parents across the division.
Following the petition, PRSD drafted a new policy stating, “The Chair in consultation with the Superintendent/CEO and Secretary-Treasurer may determine (at agenda setting) that the petition does not fall within the purview of the Board of the Prairie Rose School Division.” Fox said though the board can deny the petition, 1,331 parents don’t see the reading material in question as educational for their children.
According to PRSD Policy #18 (Respect for Human Diversity), the division “believes in the importance of understanding, respecting, valuing, and appreciating the diverse cultural and human sexual differences and perspectives within PRSD in order for it to be more successful in providing appropriate educational services for students.”
Fox then read a response she received from Rhonda Shaw, executive director for Manitoba’s minister of education. She told Fox that while the province is responsible for curriculum development, they do not review or recommend individual school resources. School divisions are to provide their own recommendations and resources that match their community’s needs.
Fox said Manitoba Education does not endorse or take responsibility for the books in question in PRSD, meaning all responsibility lies with the board of trustees. So, Fox, along with her husband and the 1,331 signatures, are asking for a policy to be put in place that “prohibits resources or instructional materials from entering the libraries or private collections for use by students, educators, instructors, assistants, or guests that instruct on or contain written or visual depictions of sexual touching, how to engage in sex and sex acts with adults, child sexual abuse, sexual acts between adults, sexual acts between minors, pedophilia, bestiality, paraphilia, and rape as defined by the Criminal Code of Canada.
The PRSD board of trustees will deliberate on Fox’s demand at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. Fox and her husband will then receive a written response from the board.
