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Canadian Family Claims Christian Sex Education Violated Their Human Rights

Canadian Family Claims Christian Sex Education Violated Their Human Rights
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By 

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

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A Canadian teenager and her mother have successfully filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Alberta over the sex education being taught at a local public school.

Emily Dawson, 18, and her mother, Kathy, claim the Christian sex education course Emily attended at her former public high school violated her human rights as a non-Christian, reports Canadian outlet The Edmonton Journal.

Emily, who has since graduated from McNally High School, had to take the sex education class in order to complete her course requirements. An outside group called Pregnancy Care Centre taught the course. The Dawson family told the Journal that the group used the class to spread an anti-abortion, Christian ideology.

Pregnancy Care Centre is affiliated with an American umbrella group called Care-Net, reports ThinkProgress. On its website, Care-Net says it “prevent[s] forced, coerced and otherwise unwanted abortions by promoting positive life choices. … With those who have already experienced the loss of abortion, we share hope and the redemptive power of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.”

Emily told Canadian outlet CBC News that the course instructor was “[b]asically shaming the girls and making them gatekeepers and meanwhile making it sound like the boys had no impulse control.”

“I have a friend that is a lesbian and she was asking what would happen if she didn't want to stay abstinent and then the educator said, ‘We're not here to talk about that,'" Emily also told CBC.

Though Kathy tried to pull her daughter out of the course, Emily decided to stay after they were allegedly told she risked academic penalty by leaving. At the same time, the local school board looked into the matter and found that the course was sound.

“Our administration have looked into this in the district and they're confident that students in Edmonton public schools are receiving the sex education set by Alberta Education,” Michael Janz, a member of the board, told CBC News.

Kathy, who ended up sitting in on the course, told The Edmonton Journal: “It’s values-based sex ed and all the values are evangelical values. … It’s not even mainstream Christianity. I’m not against abstinence. But I think the message is diminished when it’s surrounded by misinformation and fear.”

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Before You Go

School Lunches From Around The World
Indonesia(01 of20)
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A public elementary school girl buys a pancake for her lunch on the street in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. In Indonesia, not every student can bring a lunch box to school. Public school students buy their lunch at school cafeterias or food stalls on the nearby streets. The price for one pancake is about one U.S. cent. (credit:AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
France(02 of20)
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French chef Xavier Lebeau poses with a plate of Quenelles de Brochet (pike fish) with Green Haricots and Champignons de Paris (Paris mushrooms) at the Saint Pierre de Chaillot school in Paris, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. In France, school lunch is an art form: hot, multi-course and involving vegetables. (credit:AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Indonesia(03 of20)
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Sri, a house maid, shows a lunch box she prepared for her employer's child, at an elementary school in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. The lunch consists of rice, meatball soup, and tofu and vegetables. Most countries put a premium on feeding school children a healthy meal at lunchtime. The new American standards for school lunches are giving kids in the United States a taste of the good life already experienced by school children around the world. (credit:AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Mali(04 of20)
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Mamadou Diagana, shows his fried donuts as he makes his way to school in Bamako, Mali, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. In Mali?s capital, the majority of students go to neighborhood schools and return home from noon to 3 p.m. so they can eat lunch with their families. The they then return to class until 5 p.m. (credit:AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)
India(05 of20)
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Baani, a 5-year-old Indian schoolgirl, eats her lunch prepared by her mother, consisting of flatbread, a turnip dish and mangoes, at a school in Jammu, India, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Most countries seem to put a premium on feeding school children a healthy meal at lunchtime. U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is on a mission to make American school lunches healthier too, by replacing greasy pizza and french fries with whole grains, low fat protein, fresh fruit and vegetables. (credit:AP Photo/Channi Anand)
West Bank(06 of20)
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Palestinian students hold up their sandwiches of pita bread stuffed with olive oil and zaatar, a mixture of herbs and spices, brought from home, during their half-hour mid-day break at about 11 a.m. in the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Palestinian children in the West Bank usually eat during recess in the schoolyard, as there are no dining rooms in schools. (credit:AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Argentina(07 of20)
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A plastic plate containing an empanada of meat, milanesa (meat covered with egg and bread), and potato is set on a table where children ages 2 to 5 years old have lunch at a school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. In Argentina, most children have been able to count on some relative providing a hot homemade lunch before or after they attend public school, which is generally taught in four-hour shifts in the morning or afternoon. (credit:AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
France(08 of20)
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A school lunch consisting of rice, salmon, ratatouille, a slice of bread, a salad with celery and carrots, and an orange and donut is laid out on a tray at the Anne Franck school in Lambersart, northern France, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
America(09 of20)
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A school lunch featuring a grilled cheese sandwich on whole grain bread is served with a southwestern-style corn salad, fresh carrots and either canned pears or apple sauce Monday, May 5, 2014, at Mirror Lake Elementary School in Federal Way, Wash., south of Seattle. On this day, students could choose between this lunch or a green salad entree option featuring low-sodium chicken, a whole-grain roll, fresh red peppers, and cilantro dressing. (credit:AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
America(10 of20)
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A school lunch salad entree option featuring low-sodium chicken, a whole-grain roll, fresh red peppers, and cilantro dressing is assembled in a lunch basket at Mirror Lake Elementary School in Federal Way, Wash., south of Seattle, Monday, May 5, 2014. On this day, students could choose between this salad and a more traditional lunch of a grilled cheese sandwich on whole grain bread served with a southwestern-style corn salad, fresh carrots and either canned pears or apple sauce. (credit:AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Spain(11 of20)
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A school lunch at El Caminet del Besos kindergarten is pictured in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. The lunch is composed of cream of vegetable soup, pan-fried breast of veal with salad, a piece of bread, an orange or banana and water. Most countries seem to put a premium on feeding school children a healthy meal at lunchtime. U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is on a mission to make American school lunches healthier too. (credit:AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain(12 of20)
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The a school lunch of an omelette, vegetable soup, banana yogurt and water are served at the Chiquitin kindergarten in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Most countries seem to put a premium on feeding school children a healthy meal at lunchtime. U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is on a mission to make American school lunches healthier too. (credit:AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
England(13 of20)
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Two lunch trays at a primary school in London are served during a lunch break on Tuesday, May 6, 2014. The meal choice at right consists of pasta with fresh broccoli and slices of bread, and seasonal fresh fruit. At left are vegetable chili with rice and fresh broccoli, sponge cake with custard, and a banana. The drink options are milk and water. (credit:AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Cuba(14 of20)
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Milagro Ramos, a student at the Angela Landa elementary school, spoons up rice from her lunch tray, which also contains a chicken croquette, a piece of taro root and yellow pea soup in Old Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Milagro brought fried plantains, lower left corner of her tray, and an orange drink from home. The children provide their own drinks. (credit:AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)
Ecuador(15 of20)
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A student's lunch box brought from home sits on display at an elementary school in Quito, Ecuador, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. The lunch consists of a sandwich of ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce, a boxed oatmeal drink, and an apple. (credit:AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Singapore(16 of20)
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Bowls of salad are ready to be served, Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at Delcare Edu Center, a local kindergarten and child care center in the business district of Singapore. Everyday, lunch is prepared by the school's kitchen staff, who take great care to promote healthy eating in the selection of their ingredients and methods of food preparation. The children in this school are also taught to accept a wide variety of food and a weekly menu is prepared by the principal each school term. Healthy snacks consisting of fruits, home-made bread, natural beans, soup and barley are served between meals. (credit:AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
India(17 of20)
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Children stand in a queue to receive a free mid-day meal made of sweetened rice at a government school on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. The Mid-Day Meal is a massive school feeding program reaching out to millions of children in primary schools across India, mainly to enhance school enrollment and attendance and improve nutritional levels among children. (credit:AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Pakistan(18 of20)
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Students eat their lunch at the Bahria Foundation school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Most of the children at the school have home cooked food for lunch, which contain eggs, chicken nuggets, bread, rice or noodles. Some have vegetables, minced mutton or beef prepared and cooked at home the night before. Principal Syeda Arifa Mohsin says the school tries to dissuade parents from fixing junk food for their children. (credit:AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan(19 of20)
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Assorted lunch plates are arranged at a table for students at the Bahria Foundation school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Most of the kids seen there have home cooked food for lunch. Principal Syeda Arifa Mohsin says the school tries to dissuade parents from fixing junk food for their children. ?If we discover that a child has junk food, we ask his or her parents to please make a little effort for their child?s health,? Mohsin says. (credit:(AP Photo/Anjum Naveed))
Argentina(20 of20)
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A lunch box containing rice with chicken Milanesa (chicken covered with egg and bread) sits on a table where kids ages 2 to 5 have lunch at a school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Argentine culture celebrates tight-knit families with multiple generations living together or just down the street, meaning most children have been able to count on some relative providing a hot homemade lunch before or after they attend public school, which is generally taught in four-hour shifts in the morning or afternoon. (credit:AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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