This policy, or the idea of this policy, has created a culture of misinformation and uncertainty for teachers and students in River East Transcona. Teachers are unclear what guidelines they are expected to follow when it comes to discussing sexual orientation, abortion, and masturbation in health class. The provincial curriculum does not provide any help because it does not include lesson topics on these subjects in the first place. Indeed, the very fact that the province has identified the entire Human Sexuality curriculum as “potentially sensitive” puts teachers in a challenging position. Teachers may feel uncertain about how to proceed when it comes to delivering the sexual health curriculum, fearing crossing a line with students or being reprimanded if they make a wrong move in the eyes of their school board. Policies such as “HAM” only exacerbate the situation and lead to even more confusion. Faced with the already daunting and sensitive task of delivering sex-ed to young people, teachers are apt to err on the side of extreme caution. The result is the delivery of a sexual health education—one that is already subpar by national standards—that is compromised by a teacher's fear. When teachers care more than is necessary about crossing lines or stepping on toes, the best interests of our young people and their sexual, emotional, and physical health are not being put first.
The objective of the HAM Happens: So Let's Talk About It! Campaign is to raise awareness about the “HAM” policy in River East Transcona, and more broadly to generate public discussion about the inadequate and regressive state of sexual health education in the Manitoba school system today. Our campaign title is an affirmation that sexual orientation, a woman's right to choose abortion, and the natural and healthy act of self pleasure belong up front and centre as part of a robust sexual health curriculum.
We affirm that by placing limits on the discussion of these topics in school, the River-East Transcona School Division perpetuates misinformation about sexual orientation, abortion, and masturbation and is complicit in the identification of these issues as taboos. This sends a message to young people that their questions about sexuality are worthy of shame and potentially isolates youth with their insecurities rather than supporting them in accessing information and resources. Most devastatingly, this policy contributes nothing to the struggle to breakdown stereotypes and homophobic and sexist attitudes among youth.
“HAM” is a case study in the failure of our school system to effectively empower youth with the knowledge and tools we need to make healthy decisions. A recent Winnipeg Regional Health Authority report found that Winnipeg teens were among the highest youth in Canada to test positive for sexually transmitted infections. From a Winnipeg Free Press article:
The report named discrepancies in school-based sex-ed as one of several gaps that could affect the spread of STIs among youth age 15 to 24 -- the group reporting the bulk of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections in Manitoba.
Some schools or divisions opt out of parts of the provincial sex-ed curriculum, the report said, and there is no uniform approach to how it is taught. It said there is ongoing debate about whether teachers or better-informed public health educators should give sexual health information to students.
(Article retrieved October 19 http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/youth-stis-spread-at-alarming- rates-95395164.html)
What we have in Manitoba school's today is a sexual health curriculum that is awkward in its delivery, mediocre in the quality and material of its content, and which ultimately leaves youth inadequately prepared to navigate the complex social and sexual health frontiers we face in contemporary life. The HAM Happens campaign is a wakeup call that the time to reform Manitoba's sexual health curriculum is now.
