We show schoolchildren pictures of fried eggs to illustrate their brains on drugs. Guest speakers share heart-wrenching tales of tragedies caused by drinking and driving.



Now, teachers should talk to kids about the dangers of watching pornography, say Alberta school trustees, who voted 85 per cent in favour Monday to lobby for the topic to be included in the province’s reworked school curriculum.



“We should be looking at the harm and the damages that pornography does to our young children — and we have to manage those effects with some of the students in our upper grade levels as well,” said John Tomkinson, vice-chairman of the Leduc-based St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic school division.



A growing body of research links watching pornography to increased violence against women, child sexual abuse, anti-social behaviour and relationship problems, says background material the school division presented to delegates Monday at the Alberta School Boards Association’s fall meeting in Edmonton.





A 2010 study examining 50 popular erotic movies found 88 per cent of the scenes contained violence, and half had verbal aggression, says the American anti-porn organization Fight The New Drug.



Tomkinson is also taking a cue from the House of Commons, which last week unanimously supported a motion for the standing committee on health to study the public health effects of easily accessible violent and degrading pornography on children, women and men. The committee will report its findings to the house by July 2017. The motion was introduced earlier this year by Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen.



Alberta is at the beginning of a major overhaul of the K-12 curriculum in English and French — a process the education ministry says will take six years and $64 million, with input from thousands of Albertans.



The call for input on curriculum appeared to spur a deluge of suggestions from school trustees at their general meeting. School board members also voted in favour of lobbying for the curriculum to cover mental health and emotional well-being, lessons to prevent sexual abuse, computer coding and computational thinking skills, and environmental education.



Trustees at St. Thomas Aquinas concerned about harm from pornography have company.



Last month, the Edmonton Catholic school board passed a motion seeking the support of other Catholic school boards in putting pressure on cable companies to cease broadcasting pornography channels. On the weekend, delegates at the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association agreed to take up the cause.



Critics have previously said Alberta’s sex education curriculum is lacking in many areas, including a dearth of information for LGBTQ students or frank discussions about the unrealistic expectations set by pornography.



When asked if he thought the topic belongs in sex education classes or elsewhere, Tomkinson said teachers are best positioned to decide in what grade and subject erotic pictures and videos should be discussed in schools.



Since discussion of pornography isn’t specified in the current curriculum, spokespeople for Edmonton’s public and Catholic schools say they’re not sure if teachers are talking about it in class.



“In classroom discussion, questions may arise related to body image, values, relationships, and some of those observations may be influenced by exposure to pornography,” wrote Edmonton Public Schools spokesman Brad Stromberg in an email.



jfrench@postmedia.com



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