By Maria Babbage
A new and controversial curriculum about AIDS will be taught in regional Catholic elementary schools despite the protests of a group of conservative Catholics who say it goes against traditional religious teaching.
A spokeswoman for the group, Sylvia MacEachern, was reported to have called the new curriculum “unadulterated homosexual propaganda.”
Included in the new program is a Grade 8 class that will teach students about the homosexual transmission of the HIV virus with an emphasis on respecting everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.
Members of the group, who could not be reached for comment, interrupted meetings between parents and board officials concerning the new curriculum early in February.
They are encouraging parents to withdraw their children from classes where the new program is taught.
But parents of children attending St. Anthony’s Catholic School in Centretown won’t get the chance to even look at the new curriculum until March 24, a week before it’s to be implemented.
John Dorner, principal at St. Anthony’s, says the group’s claims that the program defies Catholic teachings are false.
“The kinds of values that are fundamental to the program are those which I myself would want my children to become familiar with,” he says.
Both Dorner and school board officials say the curriculum has the approval of the Ontario Council of Catholic Bishops and Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais.
“Once parents realize what the program is actually about, and not some of the misconceptions that have been put forward by this group, I think the vast majority of parents will be happy with this program,” says John Podgorski, co-ordinator of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board.
He says the new curriculum allows teachers to answer questions about AIDS in elementary classrooms.
Once students reach Grade 6, the sexual transmission of HIV will be discussed.
The goal is to educate children about AIDS early on within the context of the board’s “family life” education program, which covers everything from sexuality to childbirth, says Podgorski.
“What we’re doing is not cutting edge by any stretch of the imagination,” he says. “Some people might say it’s overly cautious, overly considerate.”
Angela Faundez, chairperson of St. Anthony’s parent committee, says she has no opposition to the new curriculum.
“I agree with it,” she says. “When you read it, it’s age appropriate for certain grades.”
Faundez says her son’s Grade 1 class will be taught about the danger of picking up needles for example, not the sexual transmission of the HIV virus.
When he does reach Grade 8, she says she’ll have no qualms about classroom discussions on sexuality.
“In Grade 8, I think a lot of kids know more than we think they do,” she says.
Faundez says she hasn’t heard about the opposition to the curriculum, but she doesn’t expect any of the other parents to object.
“This is important to me and I’m pretty sure to other parents,” she says. “If you don’t teach them about AIDS, it’s ignorant.”