'Parents must be fully involved' in student's decision to change pronouns, Ontario education minister says
CTV
Ontario’s education minister said he believes “parents must be fully involved” if their child chooses to use a different pronoun at school.
Ontario’s education minister said he believes “parents must be fully involved” if their child chooses to use a different pronoun at school.
The comments were made at a news conference on Monday morning, where Stephen Lecce was outlining the changes students and parents can expect at Ontario schools come September.
They also come as Saskatchewan adopts a new gender and pronoun policy, joining New Brunswick in legislating parental consent for students under the age of 16 who want to change their given names and/or pronouns at school.
“I think we understand though that parents must be fully involved and fully aware of what's happening in the life of their children,” Lecce said.
“I mean, often there are health implications, and I think we have to respect the rights of parents and recognize that these can be life-changing decisions, and I think parents want to be involved so that they can support their kids. And I think that's a really important principle that we must uphold.”
Lecce prefaced this by saying that schools should be safe for all children. He noted that teachers and school boards take home environments into account “where there are exceptional circumstances” or “situations of potential harm to the child.”
“Educators are well versed on exactly what to do and who to turn to if they believe that child may be harmed for whatever reason, or whatever circumstance,” he said.
