Keynote speaker Rebecca Bromwich will explore the Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum through the lens of children's rights. Dr. Bromwich is the Program Direct of the Diploma in Conflict Resolution in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carelton University. Respondents will be Dr. Pamela Dickey Young (School of Religion) and Dr. Colleen Davison (Department of Public Health Sciences).

Debate has resurfaced around the “sex ed” portion of the Ontario Health and Physical Education Curriculum. While the political stakes are overwhelmingly foregrounded in various “values,” the stakes of how children are informed (or not) about health and sexuality are highest for the children themselves.

Setting up discussions about what our children should learn in school as a battle between “authorities” misses a fundamental aspect of what is at stake: the health, sexuality, and self-expression of the province's youth.

Children own their bodies, and they have legal rights not only to information, but to freedom of expression, identity, and autonomy. 

This lecture is sponsored by the School of Religion and the Childhealth 2.0 Research Program at Queen's University.