Ever since Doug Ford was named the Conservative Party’s candidate for Premier of Ontario in March of this year, Ford has garnered national attention for his controversial promises. Among these are promises of one-dollar beer, cutting Toronto’s city council in half, and changing Ontario’s sexual education curriculum – and, now that Ford has been elected, it seems as though he is going through with many of the changes he has proposed.

Ontario’s sex-ed curriculum was most recently changed in 2015 by Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government. This version of the curriculum included a larger emphasis on consent and gender identity, with children learning about these concepts at younger ages. Furthermore, Wynne’s sex-ed curriculum included teaching children about different sexual orientations, maintaining healthy sexual relationships, cultural misconceptions about sex and sexuality, and both the benefits and risks of using the internet and other forms of technologically-based communications for sex. Prior to Wynne’s version, Ontario’s sexual education curriculum had last been updated in 1998. Wynne saw that the sex-ed curriculum was due for a serious update, given that smartphones hadn’t even been invented when the last curriculum was written.

As Ontario’s new Premier, Ford is now seeking to change the sex-ed curriculum in Ontario yet again – however, rather than updating it, he is reverting it. Ford intends to bring back the same sexual education curriculum that was used prior to Wynne’s version. This means that children will now be taught sexual education that is twenty years out of date. Among many other things, Ford’s sex-ed curriculum will not cover homosexuality, different sexual and gender identities, safety when using technology and the internet (from sexting to internet predators), and the importance of consent. Ford claims that, when Wynne’s sex-ed curriculum was put into place, parents were not consulted to see whether or not they agreed with what their children were going to be learning in school. By repealing Wynne’s sex-ed plan, Ford intends to give power back to the parents, so that they can feel more in-control about what their children are learning when it comes to sex. However, Ford has also stated that his plan for teaching sexual education will allow teachers to have more “flexibility” – putting it simply, teachers will be able to more freely pick and choose what they teach to their students.

Many students, parents, and teachers have opposed Ford’s plans for reverting Ontario’s sex-ed curriculum, calling it dangerous, intolerant, and a major step backwards. In 2018, it seems ridiculous to even consider not teaching children online safety given that 25% of fourth grade children in Canada already have their own cell phones. What may be even more worrying is the potential lack of discussion surrounding consent. Consent is absolutely required during any sort of sexual activity, and children will no longer be taught to ask for consent, that consent is necessary, and that saying ‘no’ is an option. Ford’s intention to let parents have control over what their children learn and to let teachers pick and choose what they are teaching will ultimately lead to incredible inconsistencies in kids’ sexual education.

Doug Ford’s sexual education curriculum is out of date, out of touch, and will have lasting consequence for generations to come.