Sandra L. Caron is the author of a captivating statistical phenomenon, Sex around the world...
(For author and book information, see previous post)
So I talked about the majority of the countries in general in the last post. Now, I want to focus on our home and native land, and the land closest to that in values, culture, and lifestyle... one may argue. Canada and the United States.
In Canada, the age of consent for engaging in sex is 14 years old, or 18 years for "gay male sex" (14-vaginal intercourse, 18-anal intercourse).
Caron (2007) estimates that 50% of teens are sexually active by grade 11.
In Ontario specifically, the locations that have access to contraception facilities have lower teen pregnancy rates. (Re: my thesis that talks about harm reduction. You don't want kids to have sex? They will. Reduce the babies and the STIs by throwing condoms and pills at them! Trust...)
In Canada, in most provinces, the law permits each regional school board to set its own guidelines. (This is similar to the States. Each one has a vastly different sex ed curriculum than the next. Interesting... it's culturally and value-based, me thinks)
A youth and AIDS study found that most teens do not use condoms. From this musing, a plan was fashioned to install vending machines and improve sex ed programs (Mad props).
So Canada is pretty progressive. Way to go Canada! And Happy Birthday, yesterday :)
Interesting...
Human rights laws provide protection based on sexual orientation in all provinces ***except Alberta, Newfoundland, And Prince Edward Island***
Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Really? That's news to me! What happened Newfies? I thought we were bros.
This is interesting to me. I found a website (I will hunt down the link another day...) that listed the difference in sex ed curricula based on province. Very cool to see that Canada is different, depending on province... much like the States. It's weird though. I would have that Canada to have a more united front...
No pun intended on the fact that the States aren't really 'united' in their sex ed perspectives. HIYO!
Did you know?
In 2003, British Columbia and Ontario legalized gay marriage, and in 2005, the rest of Canada followed suit.
*** Canada was the fourth country to legalize gay marriage *** Again, PROPS CANADA!!!
In the US, only 19 states require schools to provide sex education. Thirty-six states provide abstinence-only. Hmmmm.
I think this is very interesting. USA has how many states? A million? Haha, I kid. But still! I find it very interesting that if you drive a couple of hours, you will find a completely different set of values. I guess it's the same as in Canada. This book has really made me think about that. If we are all sexual beings, how come we are taught about it so differently? I guess technically you could ask the same question about math... I teach long division differently than some teachers...
It's an interesting world out there, but again, I must reiterate: Sexuality is an important concept and N/A or "No information found" does not cut it. Let's talk about sex! In some way or another... let's talk about sex.
PS. http://www.sieccan.org/
http://www.sexualityandu.ca/home_e.aspx <-- LOVE!
Food for thought? Next post maybe?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/11/12/sex-education-new-brunswick041112.html
