Last year hundreds of parents pulled their children out of class at Thorncliffe Park public school because they were uncomfortable with Ontario’s new sex-education curriculum.

Protesting parents said they were concerned their kids were learning too much too soon.

One year later, Minister of Education Mitzie Hunter said she hopes that parents have had time to digest the new material and will keep their kids in class for the lessons.

“We looked at a curriculum that was 15 years out of date. It was the responsible thing to do that we had an enhanced and well researched curriculum that was meeting the needs of our students and the world they live in today. And that is what we have done,” she said.

“We have ensured that our students have a curriculum that reflects the challenges of the environment we live in,” she continued.

However, there still appears to be a deep divide on the issue.

To address parental concerns, the TDSB has made some changes to the curriculum.

In a statement, the TDSB said: “Instead of using the terms ‘penis’ and ‘vagina’ some Grade 1 students were taught with the term ‘private parts.’ We felt this was the right balance between meeting Ministry expectations, while taking into consideration concerns from some parents at the school.”

It’s a move that appears to have worked.

Last year 1,460 student were expected to show up on the first day of school at Thorncliffe Park public school, yet just over 780 were actually in attendance.

The TDSB said this year registration numbers at Thorncliffe are up and they are hoping that making the small changes to the language of the curriculum will help keep kids in the classroom.

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