(Life in Quebec) Since the beginning of 2017, Quebec and other parts of Canada have changed their elementary and secondary school curriculum to involve more sex education towards students.
The new standards will aim to introduce starting with eight-year-old children to what exactly conception and sexual intercourse is.
The new programs also will have sections that teach these young children about “romantic life”.
While the topic of what should and shouldn’t be taught has started countless debates across the country, primarily here in Quebec, others are applauding the education system for finally introducing the hard facts to the youth, as our society has changed a lot over the past decade with social media and how things are viewed in every day life all around us.
As kids get older, consider also that sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise here in Canada. Statistics show that rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have been steadily rising since the late 1990s, and young Canadians have the highest reported rates of sexually transmitted infections, compared to their elders. In addition to these risks, children these days across Canada have access to smartphones, tablets, laptops and are browsing Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. Technology is all over the place!
So, that leaves us with the thought to consider that maybe our young kids do need to be educated on the basic sexual literacy. Maybe they do need to know the proper words for body parts, about consent, how to recognize inappropriate touching, sexual advances and abuse, and what to do about them. They need to maybe start having positive feelings about their body and sexual identity, and to develop healthy attitudes toward relationships, love and intimacy. As Mike Stephens (a professor at a school in Quebec) states, “Ignorance endangers children.”
And while the youth in Quebec are about to be introduced to this new curriculum and open their minds up – whether we think its for the good or bad – adults in Quebec have only themselves to thank (or blame) for recently being named the third most “sexual place” on the planet. Yes, you read that correctly! Quebec has been ranked #3 in the world for having sex, based on a study done by Spreadsheets (a sex tracking app) that figured out exactly which countries and places within them have the most sex and their average duration.
And if that isn’t enough to be proud (or scared) of, findings from a University of Quebec psychology study about people’s most frequent sexual fantasies was released in the Journal of Sexual Medicine and found that Quebec women (out of all of Canada) have the “most freaky fantasies”. According to the report, 72% women are into fantasizing about a total stranger, while the others fantasized more about having sex with a group of people larger than three, fantasized about being peed on, tying someone up for sexual pleasure, or using new methods of technology to enhance their bedroom activities.
Life In Quebec spoke exclusively with Dr. Holly Richmond, who is one the top Somatic Psychologists and Marriage & Sex Therapists in North America, who also works with some of the biggest celebrities, about her thoughts on today’s society and the topic of new technologies available.
According to Dr. Richmond (who provides at times teletherapy to clients here in Canada), technology has played a massive part in our society being more open-minded in the bedroom and what the future may hold in that department. “Almost everyone is using technology in the bedroom. There are dozens of new sexual health based technologies available, and soon to be available, like Virtual Reality (VR), teledildonics, haptic feedback devices and “sexbots.” The difference now, in this fourth wave of technological transformation that we are currently undergoing, is the immersive and experiential qualities technology delivers. We are going from technology we hold to technology we wear. A perfect example of this is VR goggles. There are hundreds of ways I believe VR can enhance sexual health, though from my somatic perspective, I focus heavily on the body-based sense of pleasure and connection. Instead of watching something, you’re experiencing it.”
So while controversy and debates continue to develop on the education of our youth here in Quebec, we may want to start looking at ourselves in this region and what we are thinking and doing that has moved our generation (and the ones coming up) in this direction.
With Quebec leading the way here in Canada, and now our young ones learning even more at a younger age, it will be interesting to see what the future holds. And hopefully sex robots won’t be coming for our writing jobs anytime soon either!
