The Canadian province of Quebec plans to bring sex education to daycare toddlers and kindergarten children this fall.
As the Canadian Press reports, about 1,200 kids will be affected by the pilot project that is approved by the provincial government and sponsored by the Marie-Vincent Foundation, an organization that has usually educated the public about the dangers of sexual abuse confronting children and teenagers.
The decision comes just as the new Conservative government in neighboring Ontario decided to scrap the province’s graphic sex ed course for elementary school children. (RELATED: Ontario Ditches Graphic Sex Ed For School Kids)
The course is for children up to five years old and deals with sexuality and equality.
Annie Fournier of the Marie-Vincent Foundation claimed introducing children to sexuality will help prevent sexual violence. She also told the Canadian Press that it is a positive step forwards to get kids talking about sex at an early age.
“If we start to quietly broach those themes in daycare and afterwards, when kids get to school we’ll keep talking about it, and the discussion will be easier and more open,” she said.
The foundation plans on training 300 teachers in the course curriculum. It hopes the program will be so successful that it will be expanded throughout the province.