By Patrick B. Craine
QUEBEC, Quebec, August 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Quebec Ministry of Education has funded the development and implementation of training for primary school teachers promoting inclusiveness for families with same-sex parents, and will be implementing it in Montreal and Quebec City, reports Le Journal de Quebec.
Estimated to have cost the province between $50,000 and $80,000, the training involves a three-hour session for teachers on location, with a kit of materials including videos, brochures, and activity books for students. According to Manon Boivin of la Coalition des familles homoparentales (the 'Coalition of Same-Sex Families'), who is training the teachers, “It's almost a recipe book with all the ingredients to make of our schools schools that are inclusive and more open.”
Boivin, who herself has a 5-year-old daughter and raises her with her same-sex partner, commented: “Often, in the face of homophobic insults, teachers do not know what to say….We will make an offensive to inform the schools.”
She stated further that the number of same-sex families continues to grow, stemming from the 2002 legislative changes that allowed same-sex adoption and artificial insemination (). “In Quebec, there are thousands of children living in a same-sex family,” she says. “We are more and more numerous. The Coalition has 1,000 member families in Quebec.”
Diane Watts of REAL Women of Canada criticized the government-funded program, in particular for violating the inherent rights of parents. “We're opposed to any government or educational system interference in parental direction, parental care of children,” she told LifeSiteNews.com. “This type of thing does not consult the parents of the children and it interferes with parental rights.”
“If the parents have objections to same-sex relationships or same-sex marriage and they're trying to teach their children family-oriented values,” she continued, “this will interfere with their work and they will not have control over what their children are taught…. Unfortunately our provincial governments are not concerned enough about the rights of parents and the duties of parents.”
Calling the government's move “a great win for the homosexual lobby,” Watts highlighted the importance of raising children in a traditional family setting. “The social studies indicate that the best environment for a child is with a family with a mother and a father.” Regarding adoption, she said, “In cases where his own parents can't care for him, he should be in an environment where he is cared for by a father and a mother.”
In fact, in 2004, REAL Women issued a report documenting the many problems inherent with same-sex couples raising children. According to the report, studies indicate that in same-sex homes there are higher levels of violence and social or psychological problems, as well as child molestation.
The Ministry of Education is making the program available to the 1,200 primary schools in Montreal and Quebec City. Training of teachers has just begun in Montreal, and the initial meeting in the provincial capital is set for September 4th, though no school had yet expressed interest.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Same-Sex Parenting is Harmful to Children Says REAL Women of Canada