New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has banned a sex education group from provincial schools after seeing a screenshot of a slide from a presentation delivered to high school students. The slide contained questions about masturbation, anal sex, and porn consumption.
In a statement on social media, Higgs called the presentation “clearly inappropriate” and said “a lot of parents were shocked” to see the questions. He also said that the sex education group behind the presentation would no longer be welcome in provincial schools.
When asked by reporters if he had seen the entire presentation, Higgs said he had only seen the screenshot of the slide that he shared on social media. Teresa Norris, president of the Montreal-based organization that made the presentation, says her group has been teaching in New Brunswick schools for years and its material has been vetted by the province and is in line with the provincial curriculum.
The presentation in question was delivered to a dozen high schools in New Brunswick. Norris says that her group has been teaching in the province for years and that its material has been approved by the provincial government. She also says that the group has never received any complaints about its presentations before.
The ban on the sex education group has sparked controversy in New Brunswick. Some parents support the ban, saying that the questions on the slide were inappropriate for high school students. Others say that the ban is an overreaction and that the group’s presentations are valuable for students.
The New Brunswick government has not yet said whether it will review the ban on the sex education group. It is unclear whether the group will challenge the ban in court.
