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fpbWednesday » August 3 » 2005
Young Liberals want kids to cover up
Kick off convention with proposals to lift tuition freeze, impose school dress code
MIKE DE SOUZA
The Gazette
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Pre-teens and adolescents should not be allowed to wear provocative clothes in schools, high-ranking members of the Quebec Liberal Party youth wing said yesterday.
Following a series of media reports on an increase in early sexual activity among pre-teens and adolescents, Liberal youth wing executives want a government-imposed dress code as part of a strategy to tackle the issue. The proposal is among 20 resolutions up for debate at the coming weekend convention of young Liberals in Sherbrooke.
"When you see a little girl who's 8 or 12 years old wearing a g-string, that's maybe a bit too provocative and offensive," said Simon Begin, president of the party's youth commission.
"I don't want to act like an outraged Conservative. It doesn't outrage me more than that."
The strategy would include an information campaign for parents, youth and the schools, along with setting up teams of social workers to monitor the issue in each school board.
The resolution on sexual activity and another proposal in favour of lifting the freeze on university tuition fees stood out among other more progressive motions including a plan to nationalize Quebec's water resources, and a proposal to reform aid programs for compulsive gamblers.
Following a recent tour of Quebec's regions, Begin said the dress code sparked the most debate.
"Some told us (the resolution) makes no sense, others told us we should go as far as imposing a mandatory uniform," he said.
"We found a middle ground, so we're proposing a dress code for debate at the convention and we'll see what the youth will tell us," he said. "It's a question of values and it will be a nice debate to follow at the convention."
But there was strong resistance to the idea from officials at various school boards.
"I think the school boards are able to decide whether its pertinent or not," said Annie Blouin, spokesperson for the Federation des commissions scolaires du Quebec.
Though a dress code could be a factor that leads to other problems like violence, taxing and other forms of bullying, she said it's up to each school to decide how to handle the situation.
In Montreal, there are a wide variety of rules regarding dress codes in different schools, said Lester B. Pearson school board chairperson Marcus Tabachnick.
But he admits many governing boards are concerned about early sexual activity, which also might be the result of advertising aimed at young people
"That's what sells these days," he said. "It's all around television shows, what they read and see in the movies."
Ironically, Quebec's Education Department is eliminating a 125-hour sexual education program in secondary schools when the new school year starts next month. In its place, the department is distributing a document of guidelines to help teachers include the issue in a wide range of subjects ranging from language classes, to moral instruction and science and technology.
"It can be brought up in any subject," said department spokesperson Francois Lefebvre. "But it's not necessarily the math teacher who will talk about it first."
The new curriculum follows recommendations of Estates- General hearings of the 1990s. Lefebvre said the school boards and individual schools are expected to follow through and interpret the guidelines in the same way they handle the rest of the curriculum. But he admits the fear of accusations of harassment or the threat of complaints make it harder for some teachers to follow through in the area of sexual education.
"There's a particular sensitivity that wasn't there 15, 20, 25 years ago," he said. "It's always a bit delicate, and people are always ill at ease."
With one-third of the votes at Liberal Party meetings and conventions, the youth wing, which considers itself to be the most powerful youth lobby in Canada, is also proposing Estates-General hearings on a plan to nationalize Quebec's water resources for profit.
"In the same way we profited from hydroelectricity, we could also profit from the water (industry)," Begin said. "If we were able to ensure a sustainable (industry) - one that wouldn't endanger the resource - why shouldn't we do it, just like Albertans made money with oil?"
Asked about a rise in support for sovereignty in recent opinion polls, Begin said no young Quebecers he met were talking about the issue. While youngsters mobilize on a number of issues, he said he couldn't imagine them marching on the streets to promote sovereignty.
But his counterpart with the Parti Quebecois said there were thousands of young people who paid to see shows to celebrate Quebec's Fete Nationale in Montreal this year.
"While my generation is waking up, I'm seriously questioning where the young Liberals are," said Claude Villeneuve, president of the PQ's comite national des jeunes. He said the recent student strike over proposed cuts to bursaries sparked new interest in alternatives to Quebec's position in the Canadian federation.
mdesouza@thegazette.canwest.com
Young Liberals want kids to cover up
Kick off convention with proposals to lift tuition freeze, impose school dress code
MIKE DE SOUZA
The Gazette
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Pre-teens and adolescents should not be allowed to wear provocative clothes in schools, high-ranking members of the Quebec Liberal Party youth wing said yesterday.
Following a series of media reports on an increase in early sexual activity among pre-teens and adolescents, Liberal youth wing executives want a government-imposed dress code as part of a strategy to tackle the issue. The proposal is among 20 resolutions up for debate at the coming weekend convention of young Liberals in Sherbrooke.
"When you see a little girl who's 8 or 12 years old wearing a g-string, that's maybe a bit too provocative and offensive," said Simon Begin, president of the party's youth commission.
"I don't want to act like an outraged Conservative. It doesn't outrage me more than that."
The strategy would include an information campaign for parents, youth and the schools, along with setting up teams of social workers to monitor the issue in each school board.
The resolution on sexual activity and another proposal in favour of lifting the freeze on university tuition fees stood out among other more progressive motions including a plan to nationalize Quebec's water resources, and a proposal to reform aid programs for compulsive gamblers.
Following a recent tour of Quebec's regions, Begin said the dress code sparked the most debate.
"Some told us (the resolution) makes no sense, others told us we should go as far as imposing a mandatory uniform," he said.
"We found a middle ground, so we're proposing a dress code for debate at the convention and we'll see what the youth will tell us," he said. "It's a question of values and it will be a nice debate to follow at the convention."
But there was strong resistance to the idea from officials at various school boards.
"I think the school boards are able to decide whether its pertinent or not," said Annie Blouin, spokesperson for the Federation des commissions scolaires du Quebec.
Though a dress code could be a factor that leads to other problems like violence, taxing and other forms of bullying, she said it's up to each school to decide how to handle the situation.
In Montreal, there are a wide variety of rules regarding dress codes in different schools, said Lester B. Pearson school board chairperson Marcus Tabachnick.
But he admits many governing boards are concerned about early sexual activity, which also might be the result of advertising aimed at young people
"That's what sells these days," he said. "It's all around television shows, what they read and see in the movies."
Ironically, Quebec's Education Department is eliminating a 125-hour sexual education program in secondary schools when the new school year starts next month. In its place, the department is distributing a document of guidelines to help teachers include the issue in a wide range of subjects ranging from language classes, to moral instruction and science and technology.
"It can be brought up in any subject," said department spokesperson Francois Lefebvre. "But it's not necessarily the math teacher who will talk about it first."
The new curriculum follows recommendations of Estates- General hearings of the 1990s. Lefebvre said the school boards and individual schools are expected to follow through and interpret the guidelines in the same way they handle the rest of the curriculum. But he admits the fear of accusations of harassment or the threat of complaints make it harder for some teachers to follow through in the area of sexual education.
"There's a particular sensitivity that wasn't there 15, 20, 25 years ago," he said. "It's always a bit delicate, and people are always ill at ease."
With one-third of the votes at Liberal Party meetings and conventions, the youth wing, which considers itself to be the most powerful youth lobby in Canada, is also proposing Estates-General hearings on a plan to nationalize Quebec's water resources for profit.
"In the same way we profited from hydroelectricity, we could also profit from the water (industry)," Begin said. "If we were able to ensure a sustainable (industry) - one that wouldn't endanger the resource - why shouldn't we do it, just like Albertans made money with oil?"
Asked about a rise in support for sovereignty in recent opinion polls, Begin said no young Quebecers he met were talking about the issue. While youngsters mobilize on a number of issues, he said he couldn't imagine them marching on the streets to promote sovereignty.
But his counterpart with the Parti Quebecois said there were thousands of young people who paid to see shows to celebrate Quebec's Fete Nationale in Montreal this year.
"While my generation is waking up, I'm seriously questioning where the young Liberals are," said Claude Villeneuve, president of the PQ's comite national des jeunes. He said the recent student strike over proposed cuts to bursaries sparked new interest in alternatives to Quebec's position in the Canadian federation.
mdesouza@thegazette.canwest.com
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 01:52 am (UTC)Around here the only places that wear uniforms are the Catholic schools. A lot of my friends are vehemently against any sort of uniforms in the public schools, though. If you talk to my friend she'll spill all these impassioned arguments about freedom to be an individual and what-not. (Which always makes me ask, "what individuals? We all dress the same anyway." That kind of makes her angry.)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 02:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 03:00 am (UTC)Teenage girls are terrific!
no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 03:33 am (UTC)Actually, seeing as you are sick, I'll give you a present to make you feel better, by the author of the article I sent the other day (turns out he is a small-c conservative afterall):
http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2005/07/islamist_violen.html
Actually, a lot of stuff on that blog is pretty interesting.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 02:46 am (UTC)