Open letter to Ms. Line Beauchamp

RE: Expectations of Quebec citizens concerning sexual education in our schools

 Ms Beauchamp,

In Quebec schools, children are currently taught that sexual relations are a means to an egalitarian lifestyle and thus the emphasis is on protecting oneself from physical consequences (STD and early pregnancy). This approach is incomplete and does not provide hope for building a strong Quebec..

 Should sexual education be taught in our schools, we wish it be done with the acknowledgement of the following:

 - To keep in mind the right of a child to be born and raised in a stable family where true love unites his (her) father and mother.

- To respect the values of parents who bring up their children in the hope that they establish stable families; and as such, sexuality should be associated with true love, commitment, fidelity, united family, and lasting happiness.

- To value, at least to the same extent as any other approach, abstinence before conjugal life and fidelity in this union as an honourable life choice; to treat with respect marriage as a ceremony of transition between celibacy and conjugal life.

- To give the right tools to young people for them to fulfil their dream of living in a stable relationship with one partner during their entire life, and to have children to whom they can offer a stable, happy family, a dream shared by 90% of young Canadians.

- To prepare our youth to experience healthy wanted pregnancies, when they have reached maturity, under proper conditions where true love and commitment are at the centre of the sexual act.

- To seriously consider the warnings of specialists who denounce the permissive attitude of our society and its short and long term ill consequences on our youth and future adults.

- In matters of STD prevention and early pregnancies, let young people know the benefits of keeping their virginity till marriage, or till the day they commit to build a stable family. Make sure they understand about the limited protection offered by condoms.

 Whether this course is taught through a formal curriculum or left at the teachers’ discretion, we hope, Ms. Beauchamp, that the Government shall meet our expectations for the greater benefit and general well-being of all Quebeckers.

Initiative du Conseil des leaders religieux de Montréal-Nord