Parent Testimonial

In grade 4, our child together with the whole class participated in a classroom activity for which the school officials made no attempt to obtain our parental consent. Transgender youth came into the classroom to “educate” children, and read books to students, such as about same-sex marriage. This was presented as anti-bullying activity.

When we inquired as to why a consent form was not provided by the school, the teacher apologized, while the principal advised that this subject should be raised with the school board as this was a school board’s initiative. We explained to the teacher that this type of activity should never be offered without our explicit signed consent to our child again. We indicated in a written email to the principal and the school board that the material was not age-appropriate and expressed concern that this may unnecessarily confuse our child and introduce topics that our child may not be ready to process safely. In response, the principal offered counselling services which we declined. Neither the principal nor the school board took responsibility for the material that was taught at that session. Instead, we were directed to a Gmail address without even as much as a contact name to find answers to what exactly our child was “educated” in.

Recognizing that school officials will not be taking responsibility for such future sessions and that parental consent is no longer respected by the school officials on PEI, we started considering alternatives to public education. Our children are no longer attending a public school because we feel that they are no longer safe in a public school environment from undesirable initiatives of school staff and of advocacy groups who are given access to our children on school premises.