Ontario parents in support of sex ed speak up

Ontario's new sex ed curriculum has polarized parents. We spoke to a woman who kept her daughter home from school as part of a protest against the curriculum. Thousands of parents in Ontario did the same.

But now, some parents are speaking up in support of the curriculum, which will be introduced next year.

Toronto mother Rabea Murtaza is working closely with two campaigns. She's an administrator for the Facebook groups "People for Ontario's Sex Ed Curriculum" and "Muslims for Ontario's Health and Physical Education Curriculum."

Murtaza tells As It Happens host Carol Off that she understands parents concerns, and says the province could do more to reach out to those who feel disenfranchised. However, she says the curriculum teaches kids what they need to know, when they need to know it.

While some parents have objected to what they call "adult content" related to anal and oral sex, as well as same-sex relationships and gender identity, Murtaza says she's fine with her son learning about those subjects. 

"I think that's what he sees in his classroom," she says. "It's personal for us. We have other families in the classroom, who they're same sex parents, they're trans (gender) parents, and some of them are Muslim as well. This is part of his reality and everyone's reality in the world."