Nov 10
7
Ottawa school board to ask students if homosexual and transgendered + other questions
The Ottawa Citizen – November 4, 2010
Board to ask students if they are gay: Survey also seeks data on religion, family makeup
By Matthew Pearson
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board will ask students and their parents probing questions about home life, religious affiliation and sexual orientation as part of a census to be conducted this month.
The board will survey the parents of students from junior kindergarten to Grade 6, while students in Grades 7 to 12 will be asked to complete the survey on their own.
The board says it’s an effort to better serve its diverse student population, but some fear the questions go too far, especially for students in Grade 7.
Barrie Hammond, the board’s director of education, said the results will help the board make better decisions about programs, services and resource allocation.
The survey comes after extensive consultation with board committees, the parent council association and aboriginal, immigrant and faith communities, he added.
“We don’t want to offend people,” Hammond said.
But at least one Barrhaven woman said she was taken aback by some of the questions in the survey.
“This is adult stuff,” said Lori Pothier, a mother of two students at Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School.
“I’m very shocked that they want to know if I’m employed, unemployed and what my educational degrees are,” Lori Pothier said.
“I don’t really see where they need to know that.”
Pothier also called the survey “negative-option marketing” because parents with children in Grades 7 to 12 need to notify the school in writing if they don’t want their children to participate.
“Why do I have to contact the school and say, ‘No, my child won’t participate,’ when everything else (the school does), they send home permission slips,” she said.
Both surveys touch on a wide range of issues, including academic abilities, bullying, extracurricular activities, cultural backgrounds and language, and religious affiliation.
They ask respondents to identify the adult caregivers students live with most of the time, and provide a number of possible responses, including two fathers, two mothers and half the time each with mother and father.
Not surprisingly, the survey for older students includes questions about plans after high school.
But it also asks about gender – and includes “transgender” as one possible response – and sexual orientation.
Students are asked to identify their sexual orientation from a range of possible options, one of which is “prefer not to disclose.”
Hammond agreed some of the questions are deeply personal, but noted participation is voluntary.
“If (students) come to a question they feel is too personal or they don’t feel ready to answer or they don’t know what it means, they can go on to the next question,” he said.
The survey is confidential, but it’s not anonymous.