With megaphone in hand, Thea Baines, 17, led a raucous crowd of students, who walked out of class Friday, in a chant for change, calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to reinstate a modernized sex-ed curriculum and improve Indigenous education.“No ignorance, no hate, let’s not go back to ’98,” shouted the nearly 500 students from Toronto’s Western Technical-Commercial School, Ursula Franklin Academy and The Student School, which share a building and school field in the city’s west end.Clad in purple, some with purple glitter on their faces, teens waved protest signs that included “Education Equals Empowerment,” “Consent is Key,” and “Sex Ed Saves Lives.” The student led-protest was one of many that took place across Ontario on Friday.It’s estimated about 75 schools, or 38,000 students, in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Guelph, participated in the walkout, which was organized by student-led groups March for Our Education and Decolonize Canadian Schools. About 35 students took their message directly to Queen’s Park, where they rallied out front. “A walkout is a classic student protest strategy; it shows that we value something over our learning,” said Baines, a Grade 12 student at Western Tech, who helped organize that protest. “In this case, we value a good education over having an outdated and not-inclusive education, which is what the Ford government is bringing back.” The walkout, promoted through social media, was in response to the province’s repeal of the 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum for elementary students, which some social conservatives say is not age-appropriate. This curriculum was replaced with sex-ed material, used between 1998 and 2014, that doesn’t overtly address issues such as gender identity, consent and same-sex relationships. The government will begin public consultations next week on creating a new sex-ed ...
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