It isn’t just Christians who talk about abstinence

Andrea Mrozek

On July 11, Kathy and Emily Dawson successfully filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. They said the Edmonton Public School Board violated their rights as non-Christians by contracting a very small portion of a career and life management course to a Christian group. That group, the Edmonton Pregnancy Care Centre, promotes the value of abstinence for teenagers.

Values matter, they are always present, and it’s clear from different examples across the country that parents don’t agree on what constitutes good ones. In fact, a 2002 survey of New Brunswick parents showed this, saying that while the majority of parents support sex education, “they do not necessarily share a common vision of the nature, content and timing of an ideal sexual health education curriculum.”

Schools and school boards serve families, and not the other way around. That much is clear.

That said, one student’s complaint doesn’t mean the school board in question wasn’t serving families.  (more...)

It isn’t just Christians who talk about abstinence