Number of different sources from which youth typically obtain sexual health information by sex at birth, household population aged 15 to 17, Canada
Table summary
This table displays the results of Number of different sources from which youth typically obtain sexual health information by sex at birth. The information is grouped by Number of different sources (appearing as row headers), Total, Male, Female, %, 95%
confidence
interval and 95% confidence interval (appearing as column headers).
* referrer
†† referrer
CC referrer
2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth.While both males and females reported consulting many of the same sources for sexual health information, there were some differences by sex. For example, it was more common for males to report having one source (37.7% versus 33.0% for females) or no typical sources (4.6% versus 2.1% for females). Reporting three (20.6% for females versus 17.0% for males) or four or more (18.6% for females versus 14.8% for males) sources was more common among females.
Also, more males (58.5%) than females (52.7%) identified school as a source of sexual health information. However, higher percentages of females identified parents or guardians (55.7% versus 46.9% for males), friends (40.9% versus 31.7% for males), health care professionals (25.3% versus 16.7% for males), and books (7.8% versus 6.1% for males) (Table 2). The internet (45.2% for males versus 46.6% for females) and other sources (1.6% for males versus 1.7% for females) were identified by similar percentages of males and females.
Sources identified | Total | Male | Female † | Sexually and/or gender diverse | Cisgender with exclusive different- gender attraction † | Immigrant or non-permanent resident | Canadian-born resident † | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | 95% confidence interval | % | 95% confidence interval | % | 95% confidence interval | % | 95% confidence interval | % | 95% confidence interval | % | 95% confidence interval | % | 95% confidence interval | ||||||||
from | to | from | to | from | to | from | to | from | to | from | to | from | to | ||||||||
School | 55.6 | 54.0 | 57.3 | 58.5 * | 56.2 | 60.8 | 52.7 | 50.3 | 55.0 | 53.7 | 49.8 | 57.6 | 56.2 | 54.3 | 58.1 | 61.9 * | 58.0 | 65.6 | 54.2 | 52.4 | 56.1 |
Parent or caregiver | 51.2 | 49.6 | 52.8 | 46.9 * | 44.7 | 49.1 | 55.7 | 53.4 | 57.9 | 49.4 | 45.6 | 53.2 | 52.5 | 50.6 | 54.3 | 44.7 * | 41.1 | 48.5 | 52.6 | 50.8 | 54.4 |
Internet | 45.9 | 44.3 | 47.5 | 45.2 | 43.0 | 47.4 | 46.6 | 44.3 | 49.0 | 58.3 * | 54.3 | 62.1 | 43.9 | 42.1 | 45.7 | 48.1 | 44.2 | 52.0 | 45.4 | 43.6 | 47.2 |
Friends | 36.2 | 34.7 | 37.8 | 31.7 * | 29.7 | 33.9 | 40.9 | 38.6 | 43.1 | 39.7 | 35.9 | 43.6 | 36.2 | 34.5 | 38.0 | 34.9 | 31.3 | 38.6 | 36.4 | 34.7 | 38.1 |
Health care professionals | 20.9 | 19.6 | 22.3 | 16.7 * | 15.0 | 18.5 | 25.3 | 23.4 | 27.4 | 25.9 * | 22.5 | 29.5 | 20.3 | 18.8 | 21.8 | 19.5 | 16.6 | 22.7 | 21.3 | 19.9 | 22.8 |
Books or pamphlets (printed) | 7.0 | 6.3 | 7.7 | 6.1 * | 5.2 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 9.1 | 10.4 * | 8.3 | 12.8 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 6.2 | 9.8 | 6.6 | 5.9 | 7.5 |
Other | 1.7 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 1.6 C | 1.2 | 2.3 | 1.7 C | 1.2 | 2.5 | 1.3 D | 0.8 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 1.7 D | 1.0 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
Nowhere | 3.4 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 4.6 * | 3.7 | 5.7 | 2.1 C | 1.5 | 2.9 | 2.2 D | 1.2 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 3.7 C | 2.4 | 5.8 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 3.9 |
* * referrer †† referrer CC referrer DD referrer 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. |
Other characteristics of the adolescents were also associated with sources of sexual health information. For example, those who are sexually and/or gender diverse relied more on the internet (58.3%), health professionals (25.9%), and printed materials (10.4%) than their cisgender counterparts with exclusive different-gender attraction (43.9%, 20.3% and 6.3%, respectively) (Table 2). Among adolescents born outside Canada, over 6 in 10 (61.9%) reported getting sexual health information from school, and fewer than half (44.7%) relied on their parents or caregiver. The pattern was different with respect to these sources for Canadian-born adolescents, with fewer reporting school as a source (54.2%) and more reporting their parents (52.6%).
The amount of time adolescents spent online was also associated with identifying the Internet as a source of sexual health information (Table 3). For example, fewer than 3 in 10 adolescents who reported less than 3 hours of screen time per week (28.7%) identified the internet as a sexual health information source—about half the estimate (56.1%) for those reporting 21 or more hours of weekly screen time.
% | 95% confidence interval | ||
---|---|---|---|
from | to | ||
45.9 | 44.3 | 47.5 | |
Hours | |||
0 to less than 3 † | 28.7 | 23.9 | 34.0 |
3 to less than 7 | 38.5 * | 35.0 | 42.0 |
7 to less than 14 | 45.5 * | 42.2 | 48.7 |
14 to less than 21 | 48.4 * | 44.9 | 52.0 |
21 or more | 56.1 * | 52.9 | 59.3 |
* * referrer †† referrer 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. |
There were also some geographic differences in identifying school as a source of sexual health information (Table 4). For example, 60.2% of adolescents living in Ontario and about two-thirds of adolescents from Manitoba (66.9%) and the Northwest Territories (66.7%) identified school as a typical source, significantly above the estimates for the rest of Canada (other provinces and territories combined). By contrast, 39.6% of adolescents from Quebec reported school as a source, which was significantly lower than the corresponding estimate for the rest of Canada.
% | 95% confidence interval | ||
---|---|---|---|
from | to | ||
Total | 55.6 | 54.0 | 57.3 |
Province or territory | |||
Newfoundland and Labrador | 57.9 | 50.5 | 64.9 |
Prince Edward Island | 54.3 | 47.9 | 60.6 |
Nova Scotia | 60.4 | 53.2 | 67.2 |
New Brunswick | 53.5 | 46.4 | 60.4 |
Quebec | 39.6 ‡ | 34.7 | 44.8 |
Ontario | 60.2 ‡ | 58.2 | 62.1 |
Manitoba | 66.9 ‡ | 59.6 | 73.4 |
Saskatchewan | 60.5 | 53.4 | 67.2 |
Alberta | 58.6 | 53.7 | 63.4 |
British Columbia | 59.0 | 54.4 | 63.5 |
Yukon | 63.7 | 51.8 | 74.1 |
Northwest Territories | 66.7 ‡ | 55.5 | 76.2 |
Nunavut | 65.5 | 48.7 | 79.2 |
‡ ‡ referrer 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. |
According to the 2019 CHSCY , 14.9% of adolescents aged 15 to 17 in Canada reported not having an adult available to talk with about sexual health or puberty (Table 5). More males than females reported not having an adult available (16.6% versus 13.2%, respectively). A higher percentage of sexually and/or gender diverse adolescents compared with cisgender adolescents (with exclusive different-gender attraction) also reported not having an adult available (18.3% versus 13.2%, respectively).
'000 | % | 95% confidence interval | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
from | to | |||
164.9 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 16.1 | |
Sex at birth | ||||
Male | 93.6 | 16.6 * | 15.1 | 18.3 |
Female † | 71.3 | 13.2 | 11.7 | 14.8 |
Sexually and/or gender diverse | 34.4 | 18.3 * | 15.6 | 21.4 |
Cisgender with exclusive different-gender attraction † | 114.0 | 13.2 | 11.9 | 14.5 |
Non-racialized and non-Indigenous (White) † | 83.8 | 11.2 | 10.0 | 12.5 |
Racialized | 80.7 | 23.0 * | 20.7 | 25.5 |
South Asian | 19.2 | 22.9 * | 18.7 | 27.7 |
Chinese | 17.4 | 26.5 * | 21.2 | 32.6 |
Black | 12.3 C | 21.4 C * | 15.2 | 29.2 |
Other racialized | 31.8 | 22.2 * | 18.8 | 26.0 |
Yes | 43.9 | 22.5 * | 19.4 | 26.0 |
No (Canadian-born) † | 119.1 | 13.3 | 12.1 | 14.5 |
Yes | 6.7 C | 13.4 C | 9.7 | 18.4 |
No † | 157.6 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 16.2 |
Less than $58,300 | 60.5 | 19.3 * | 17.1 | 21.8 |
$58,300 or more † | 104.3 | 13.2 | 12.0 | 14.5 |
Two parents † | 111.3 | 13.8 | 12.6 | 15.0 |
Not two parents (other) | 50.6 | 17.8 * | 15.4 | 20.5 |
Regularly † | 56.9 | 8.5 | 7.4 | 9.8 |
Irregularly | 107.1 | 24.6 * | 22.5 | 26.8 |
Fair or poor | 42.6 | 22.9 * | 19.9 | 26.1 |
Good, very good, or excellent † | 122.2 | 13.4 | 12.2 | 14.6 |
* * referrer †† referrer CC referrer 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. |
Nearly one-quarter (23.0%) of racialized adolescents reported not having an adult to talk with about sexual health or puberty, more than double the estimate for their non-racialized and non-Indigenous (White) peers (11.2%). Similarly, a higher percentage of adolescents who were not born in Canada, compared with those who were, reported not having an adult to talk with (22.5% versus 13.3%, respectively). By contrast, the percentage of Indigenous respondents (13.4%) who reported not having an adult available to talk with about their sexual health or puberty was comparable to the estimate for their non-Indigenous peers (15.0%).
At 24.6%, the prevalence of not having an adult to talk with about their sexual health was about three times higher for adolescents who did not regularly talk about their day with their parents or guardians than it was among those who did (8.5%). Additionally, reporting not having an adult to talk with was more common among those from lower-income households (below the 2019 median market income of $58,300) (19.3%) and those not living with two parents (17.8%) than it was for adolescents from higher-income households (13.2%) and those living with two parents (13.8%).
Mental health was also related to reporting not having an adult available to talk with about sexual health or puberty. Adolescents who reported worse mental health were more likely to indicate not having someone to talk with than those who considered their mental health to be better (22.9% versus 13.4%, respectively).
There was some variation across the country, with about one in five adolescents in British Columbia reporting not having an adult available, significantly above the estimates for the rest of Canada (other provinces and territories combined) (Table 6). By contrast, fewer adolescents in New Brunswick (10.3%) and Nova Scotia(9.9%) reported not having an adult available, lower than the rest of Canada.
% | 95% confidence interval | ||
---|---|---|---|
from | to | ||
Canada | 14.9 | 13.8 | 16.1 |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 12.3 C | 8.4 | 17.6 |
Prince Edward Island | 13.4 C | 9.7 | 18.3 |
Nova Scotia | 9.9 C ‡ | 6.4 | 14.9 |
New Brunswick | 10.3 C ‡ | 6.8 | 15.3 |
Quebec | 13.1 | 10.1 | 16.9 |
Ontario | 15.4 | 14.0 | 16.8 |
Manitoba | 14.3 C | 9.9 | 20.3 |
Saskatchewan | 14.5 C | 10.3 | 20.1 |
Alberta | 14.1 | 11.1 | 17.8 |
British Columbia | 19.3 ‡ | 15.9 | 23.1 |
Territories | 18.7 C | 12.6 | 27.0 |
‡ ‡ referrer CC referrer 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. |
Considerable research suggests that adolescents who have received sexual health education are better at making informed sexual health decisions, thereby contributing to healthier sexual development and safer sexual behaviours. Note 7 , Note 8 , Note 9 , Note 10 , Note 11 According to this study, most adolescents in Canada reported having access to sexual health information, and the majority had an adult to talk with about this topic.
People from racialized and some ethnic groups, and sexual minorities can be disproportionately affected by negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Note 4 , Note 25 , Note 26 , Note 27 , Note 28 Gaps in sexual health education for some populations may have contributed to these differences. The current study indicated, for example, that nearly twice as many foreign-born adolescents and adolescents from racialized population groups reported not having an adult available to discuss sex-related concerns as their Canadian-born or non-racialized and non-Indigenous (White) peers. Higher percentages of adolescents who are sexually and/or gender diverse versus their cisgender counterparts (with exclusive different-gender attraction) also reported not having an adult to talk with about sexual health. Youth who belong to some ethnic or racialized groups, who are immigrants, or who are sexually and/or gender diverse may not always have the understanding and support of family—therefore, they may not be able to discuss their sexual and reproductive health. Note 27 , Note 28 , Note 29 The provision of sexual health education at school, particularly if it is culturally sensitive and inclusive, can help ensure adolescents who might not otherwise have access to this valuable information can obtain it. Similarly, for adolescents born outside Canada, school can be an especially important source of sexual health information.
Results from this study align with others showing that any youth, regardless of sexual experience, sexual attraction, gender identity, race or ethnicity, can find talking with their parents about sex embarrassing. Note 17 , Note 30 Parents can also find these conversations challenging, owing to their limited knowledge, discomfort with the subject, or concerns about appropriateness or necessity. Note 31 This helps to explain why nearly half of adolescents do not identify their parents as a source. Talking regularly with parents does, however, seem to help foster communication between parents and children, Note 32 a finding echoed in this CHSCY study showing that adolescents who talked regularly with their parents were less likely to report not having an adult to talk with about their sexual health concerns.
Male and female adolescents also tended to differ in where they obtained their sexual health information. Females tended to rely more often on their parents, friends and health professionals, whereas more males reported school as a source. Also, not having an adult to discuss their sexuality questions with was more than twice as common among males than females. Other research suggests that this sex difference can matter because the subjects covered have been shown to differ depending on the provider and sex of the recipient (e.g., more females receive guidance on how to say no and where to obtain birth control, whereas males are more likely to learn how to use condoms). Note 13 , Note 33 , Note 34 These sex differences can put adolescents not receiving a more complete sexual health education curriculum at risk.
This study found some regional differences in the reporting of school as a source of sexual health information and in the rates of not having an adult to talk with about this topic. Education is a provincial or territorial responsibility; as a result, the curriculum is not standardized and varies across Canada. For students aged 17 in Quebec, the existence of pre-university and vocational career programming offered by Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) might mean courses with sexual health education content are not always taken. This could help explain the lower numbers of Quebec adolescents reporting school as a source, although other factors may also have contributed.
This short study has several strengths, including that the CHSCY is a national, population-based survey that covers a wide range of subjects, allowing for a detailed look into the health and sociodemographic characteristics of Canadian adolescents’ use of different sources of sexual health information. Nevertheless, results of this study should be interpreted in light of several limitations.
Some variables relevant to the study of sexual health and related information were not collected by the CHSCY , including religiosity, Note 33 details about the sexual health education provided, the timing of the sexual health education, and information about an adolescent’s previous sexual behaviours and experiences.
The data are cross-sectional and thereby permit the observation of associations between variables at only one point in time. Information was self-reported and has not been verified, and it can be subject to recall and social desirability biases. The use of survey weights adjusted for non-response helped to ensure that the dataset more accurately represented the target population.
While the CHSCY was designed to study the health of children and youth and boasts a comparatively large sample, the problem of small sample sizes was not completely eliminated. This issue sometimes necessitated the use of dichotomized variables and meant the study could not examine certain at-risk and understudied subpopulations, including people with intellectual disabilities, Note 35 people with autism, Note 36 and Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning + (2SLGBTQ+) adolescents. Note 27 Disaggregated data about gender and sexual diversity can be of lower quality if the collected sample size is too small. In such cases, it is helpful to combine gender and sexually diverse respondents to produce estimates related to the broader 2SLGBTQ +population. Small samples or effect sizes in other parts of the analysis may also have affected significance testing.
This study provides an updated picture of the sources used by adolescents in Canada to obtain sexual health information. It also examines the characteristics of adolescents who reported not having an adult to talk with about their sexual health or puberty. While the majority reported having access, there were some adolescents who reported not having an adult they could talk with or another informational source. Adolescents who were male, were born outside Canada, were sexually and/or gender diverse, were racialized, were experiencing fair or poor mental health, were from lower-income households, talked infrequently with their parents, and resided in some regions could be more vulnerable to experiencing negative sexual health outcomes in the absence of more support and education. The differences identified in this study could help develop more tailored curricula or other resources to help all adolescents have the information and support they need to make more informed choices about sex.
Value assigned to sexually and/or gender diverse variable | |||
---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | Missing | |
Among adolescents who reported their gender as male and | |||
their sex at birth as male (cisgender), and their sexual attraction as: | |||
Only, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to males | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to females | Note ...: not applicable | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable |
Not sure | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable | ✓ |
Only, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to females | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to males | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Not sure | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Among adolescents who reported their gender as female and | |||
their sex at birth as female (cisgender), and their sexual attraction as: | |||
Only, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to females | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to males | Note ...: not applicable | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable |
Not sure | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable | ✓ |
their sex at birth as male (transgender), and their sexual attraction as: | |||
Only, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to males | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to females | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Not sure | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Among adolescents who reported their gender as gender diverse and | |||
their sex at birth as male and their sexual attraction as: | |||
O nly, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to females | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to males | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to males | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to females | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Not sure | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
their sex at birth as female and their sexual attraction as: | |||
Only, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to females | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only, somewhat, mostly, or equally attracted to males | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to males | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Only attracted to females | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
Not sure | ✓ | Note ...: not applicable | Note ...: not applicable |
... not applicable 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. |
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Maya m kumar.
1 Department of Pediatrics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry; London, Ontario
2 Pediatric Emergency Medicine, London Health Sciences Centre; London, Ontario
3 Children’s Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario; London, Ontario
Jamie a seabrook, kathy n speechley.
4 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, Ontario
Background:.
Formal sexual education is a mandatory component of the high school curriculum in most Canadian provinces. The present study was a preliminary assessment of sexual knowledge among a sample of Ontario adolescents who had completed their high school sexual education requirements.
A questionnaire, testing understanding of the learning objectives of Ontario’s minimally required high school sexual education course, was distributed in a paediatric emergency department to 200 adolescent patients who had completed the course.
Respondents demonstrated good understanding of pregnancy physiology and sexually transmitted infections, but poor understanding of concepts related to reproductive physiology, contraception, HIV/AIDS and sexual assault. Most respondents could not identify Canada’s age of sexual consent.
Respondents demonstrated concerning gaps in sexual knowledge despite completion of their sexual education requirements. Further studies must determine whether a representative, population-based student sample would exhibit similar findings. Sexual education currently offered in Ontario may require investigation.
L’éducation sexuelle est un élément obligatoire du programme d’études secondaires de la plupart des provinces canadiennes. La présente étude visait à obtenir une évaluation préliminaire des connaissances en matière de sexualité d’un échantillon d’adolescents ontariens qui avaient terminé leur cours d’éducation sexuelle au secondaire.
Lors de leur visite au département d’urgence pédiatrique, 200 patients adolescents qui avaient terminé leur cours d’éducation sexuelle ont reçu un questionnaire afin de vérifier leur compréhension des objectifs d’apprentissage du cours d’éducation sexuelle de base offert dans les écoles secondaires de l’Ontario.
Les répondants ont démontré une bonne compréhension de la physiologie de la grossesse et des infections transmises sexuellement, mais une mauvaise compréhension des concepts liés à la physiologie de la reproduction, à la contraception, au VIH-sida et aux agressions sexuelles. La plupart des répondants ne pouvaient pas préciser l’âge du consentement sexuel au Canada.
Les répondants ont démontré des lacunes préoccupantes en matière de connaissances sexuelles, même s’ils avaient terminé leur cours d’éducation sexuelle obligatoire. D’autres études devront déterminer si un échantillon d’étudiants représentatifs en population donnerait des résultats similaires. Les cours d’éducation sexuelle actuellement offerts en Ontario méritent peut-être d’être évalués.
Adolescence is a crucial period for learning about healthy sexuality ( 1 , 2 ). As teenagers struggle to complete the developmental tasks of adolescence, such as accepting their changing bodies and defining their sexual identities, they are at risk for negative sexual consequences ( 3 ). Sexually active Canadian teenagers commonly engage in risky sexual behaviours, including unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners and intercourse, before 15 years of age ( 4 ). Canadians 15 to 24 years of age also have the country’s highest incidences of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections ( 5 ). Such statistics raise concerns about whether young Canadians have sufficient knowledge to make responsible sexual decisions. Comprehensive sexual education for adolescents effectively reduces the incidence of negative sexual outcomes ( 6 , 7 ). The Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics ( 8 , 9 ) recommend that paediatricians participate in the development and implementation of comprehensive sexual education programs in schools.
In Canada, education is under provincial jurisdiction and almost every province’s high school curriculum contains formal sexual education. Within the province of Ontario, sexual education is a subcomponent of health and physical education courses; each course is comprised of approximately 110 h of instruction. However, only a fraction of course time, determined by each school, is dedicated to sexual education; consequently, there is potential for significant variability among schools. Ontario’s Ministry of Education has outlined six course expectations ( Table 1 ) for its Grade 9/10 Healthy Growth and Sexuality unit ( 10 ). Completion of this unit is the minimum sexual education required for a high school diploma or certificate in Ontario.
Course expectations for Ontario’s Grade 9/10 Healthy Growth and Sexuality course ( 10 )
There are currently no standardized examinations or evaluation processes to assess the knowledge of students who have completed their sexual education requirements and no other standardized assessments of sexual education quality.
Several studies have attempted to assess the sexual knowledge of Canadian adolescents. The majority of these studies, however, limited the scope of their assessment to knowledge of HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STI) alone ( 11 – 16 ) or HIV/STI, contraception and limited reproductive physiology ( 17 ).
The present study will expand on previous Canadian work in two ways. First, it will assess student knowledge in multiple domains using an assessment questionnaire addressing all major topics included in Ontario’s high school human sexuality curriculum, including reproductive physiology throughout life (not just adolescence), HIV/STI, contraception and responsible sexuality including sexual consent. Second, unlike most previous Canadian studies, participants will be recruited from many different schools.
The objective of the present study was to conduct a preliminary assessment of sexual knowledge related to the learning objectives of Ontario’s minimally required high school sexual education course, among a sample of adolescents presenting to an emergency department who had completed their provincial high school sexual education requirements.
The present descriptive study used a convenience sample of adolescent patients (see patient eligibility below), from the paediatric emergency department of the London Health Sciences Centre, a tertiary care facility located in London, Ontario, whose catchment is two million people and which treats 37,500 patients annually. Ethics approval was obtained from the Health Sciences Research Ethics Board at the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario) and the Clinical Research Impact Committee at the Lawson Health Research Institute (London, Ontario).
A questionnaire ( Appendix A ) designed to test expectations 1 through 4 outlined in the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Grade 9/10 Healthy Growth and Sexuality course ( Table 1 ) was developed (achievement of expectations 5 and 6 was not considered objectively testable by the authors.) Specific questions pertaining to each objective were developed using the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education, 3rd Edition published by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) ( 18 ). This guideline, created by a national task force of health care professionals, educators and experts in adolescent development, contains recommendations for subject matter to be included in a comprehensive sexual education curriculum. Questions were also created using Canadian laws relevant to responsible sexuality ( 19 – 21 ) and Canadian health guidelines ( 22 – 25 ).
Questions were arranged into six categories: pregnancy; reproductive physiology and puberty; STI; contraception; HIV/AIDS; and sexuality and the law. Questions were true/false/unsure or multiple-choice. Participants were not asked about their personal experiences or values related to sexuality.
Additionally, participants used a seven-point Likert scale to rate the usefulness of various sources of sexual information ( Table 2 ), in which 1 = not at all helpful, 4 = somewhat helpful and 7 = extremely helpful.
Frequencies of respondents’ ratings of usefulness for six common sources of sexual information on a seven-point Likert scale
Sexual education classes received in high school | 4 (2.0) | 7 (3.5) | 16 (8.0) | 58 (29.0) | 48 (24.0) | 48 (24.0) | 16 (8.0) |
Sexual education classes received before high school | 22 (11.0) | 32 (16.0) | 48 (24.0) | 53 (26.5) | 25 (12.5) | 13 (6.5) | 3 (1.5) |
Parents | 34 (17.0) | 35 (17.5) | 22 (11.0) | 39 (19.5) | 19 (9.5) | 19 (9.5) | 29 (14.5) |
Friends | 20 (10.0) | 26 (13.0) | 31 (15.5) | 33 (16.5) | 37 (18.5) | 28 (14.0) | 22 (11.0) |
Popular media (television, movies, magazines) | 41 (20.5) | 35 (17.5) | 29 (14.5) | 40 (20.0) | 29 (14.5) | 13 (6.5) | 10 (5.0) |
Internet | 38 (19.0) | 29 (14.5) | 34 (17.0) | 35 (17.5) | 28 (14.0) | 14 (7.0) | 20 (10.0) |
Data presented as n (%)
Baseline characteristics were assessed, including age and sex; whether currently in school, and current/highest grade successfully completed; the number of high school health courses completed; whether the school in which these courses were taken was private or public, religious or secular; municipality in which the school was located; household structure (eg, two-parent, single-parent or alternative arrangement); and reason for presenting to the emergency department.
The questionnaire was piloted among a convenience sample of adolescents before distribution. Feedback was obtained about readability, time required to complete the survey, printed layout of the questionnaire, subject matter covered by the questions and whether any questions were perceived as invasive; further revisions were consequently made. The questionnaire took 10 min to 15 min to complete. Its Flesch Reading Ease score was 68% and its Flesch-Kincaid Grade level was 6.8.
Adolescent patients attending London Health Sciences Centre’s paediatric emergency department were considered eligible if they had completed at least one credit of health education in an Ontario high school (minimum provincial requirement), and triage scores upon presenting to the emergency department were neither resuscitative nor emergent (ie, Canadian Pediatric Triage and Acuity Scale score of 3 [urgent], 4 [less urgent] or 5 [non-urgent]). No age minimum was set as long as the educational requirement was met, but all participants were younger than 18 years of age (maximum patient age accepted by the paediatric emergency department). Exclusion criteria included incapacity to provide one’s own consent (assessed by the attending physician); insufficient fluency in written English (as self-reported by patient after inquiry); and acute pain, psychiatric or psychosocial crisis of such severity that recruitment was deemed inappropriate (assessed by the attending physician).
Once deemed eligible, the patient received the questionnaire with an accompanying letter of information. Completion of the questionnaire implied informed consent. Participants could complete the questionnaire in the presence of parents/guardians but were asked to refrain from discussion while completing it. However, respondents and parents/guardians were informed that upon return of the questionnaire, they would receive an answer key with explanations for each question that they could review together and take home. This allowed parents/guardians to let their child complete the questionnaire privately, knowing that the answer key would be available shortly for review and discussion.
If an eligible patient did not wish to participate, their reason for declining was documented.
Because this was a descriptive study without primary or secondary end points, a sample size calculation was not performed. It was decided that a sample size of 200 would obtain a sufficient cross-section of adolescents from different socioeconomic backgrounds and types of schools, while acknowledging that the convenience sample of emergency department patients may not be representative of the general adolescent population. Mean (± SD) scores were calculated for each question category and each question. Categorical variables were reported as percentages. A χ 2 test was used to assess associations between categorical variables; P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Of the 206 patients approached who met eligibility criteria, 200 agreed to participate. The six patients who declined cited disinterest in the subject matter as their reason. Respondents experienced a variety of presenting complaints, but the most common were musculoskeletal complaints (31%), minor trauma (13.5%) and abdominal pain (13.5%). Other baseline characteristics are summarized in Table 3 . Ages ranged from 14 to almost 18 years; the mean (± SD) age was 16±0.9 years. The mean current grade was 10.6±1.8. Fifty-six per cent were girls. Almost all were currently in school, with most attending a publicly funded school. Of the five available health/physical education courses offered in Ontario schools, almost one-half of respondents had completed one course (the minimum requirement) and approximately one-fifth had completed two courses.
Baseline characteristics of participants (n=200)
Age, years, mean ± SD | 16.0±0.9 |
Male participants | 88 (44) |
Currently enrolled in school | 193 (96.5) |
Current grade or highest grade completed, mean ± SD | 10.6±1.8 |
Completed health and physical education courses (maximum available courses = 5) | |
1 | 94 (47) |
2 | 44 (22) |
3 | 26 (13) |
4 | 7 (3.5) |
5 | 2 (1) |
Type of school attended | |
Public | 170 (85) |
Private | 7 (3.5) |
Religiously based | 58 (29) |
Secular | 129 (64.5) |
Urban | 149 (74.5) |
Rural | 39 (19.5) |
Living situation | |
With both parents | 129 (64.5) |
With one parent | 43 (21.5) |
Divides time between both parents | 9 (4.5) |
Other | 19 (9.5) |
Data presented as n (%) unless otherwise indicated
Mean scores within each question category are summarized in Table 4 . Respondents correctly answered most questions relating to pregnancy physiology (79.6%), but performed less well on questions related to general reproductive physiology (61.6%). For example, 27% of respondents reported that pregnancy could result from oral sex, anal sex or mutual masturbation; 40% agreed with the statement that when a couple cannot conceive, the woman usually has a medical problem; and 55% could not identify when a woman is most likely to get pregnant during her menstrual cycle.
Mean scores within each question category
Reproductive physiology and puberty | 6 | 3.7 (61.6) |
Pregnancy | 9 | 7.2 (79.6) |
Sexually transmitted infections | 7 | 5.5 (79.1) |
HIV/AIDS | 2 | 1.0 (51.4) |
Contraception | 3 | 1.3 (43.1) |
Sexuality and the law | 6 | 4.0 (66.3) |
Respondents demonstrated good understanding of STI prevention (79.6% of questions correct). Each of the following were correctly identified by 75% to 90% of respondents: the need for regular sexual health examinations in both sexes; the potential for untreated STI to cause infertility or fetal harm during pregnancy; that STI are transmittable through oral sex; that condoms do not protect against all STI; and that STI may be asymptomatic. However, the majority (almost 60%) did not know that human papillomavirus may cause genital cancer in males in addition to females. Respondents also performed relatively poorly on questions related to HIV/AIDS (51.4% correct). Only 54% knew that HIV is not transmitted through all types of skin-to-skin contact, and when presented with a list of activities that included tattooing, piercing, sexual intercourse, intravenous drug use and blood transfusion, only 43% correctly selected blood transfusion as an uncommon method of contracting HIV in Canada.
Respondents held several misconceptions regarding common contraceptive methods (43.1% of questions correct): 78.5% erroneously agreed that the ‘morning-after pill’ terminates an existing pregnancy; 38% overestimated the contraceptive efficacy of male condoms with typical use; and 37.5% did not agree with the statement that oral contraceptives can be dangerous for women who smoke.
When presented with four scenarios, each depicting an instance of sexual assault, only 29.6% of respondents identified all four incidents as assault and 29.1% only recognized two or fewer as assault. Only 42.5% correctly identified Canada’s age of sexual consent as 16 years.
Girls scored better than boys in the pregnancy category (81.7% versus 76.9% correct; P=0.03) and the reproductive physiology/puberty category (64.5% versus 57.9% correct; P=0.04); other baseline characteristics did not correlate with any significant differences in scores. With respect to different types of schools attended (eg, private versus public, urban versus rural, religious versus secular) or the number of sexual education courses taken, no statistically significant differences were detected between the subgroups.
Respondents’ ratings of the usefulness of six common sources of sexual information are shown in Table 2 .
The present study built on previous Canadian assessments of student sexual knowledge in several important ways. Only one previous study attempted to assess sexual knowledge in multiple domains ( 17 ), and still failed to assess knowledge of reproductive physiology throughout life (including pregnancy), any STI other than chlamydia or HIV, abortion, sexual assault or sexual consent. Another weakness of earlier Canadian studies was that most recruited students from only one or two schools, making them vulnerable to selection bias. Three studies were performed on a national level with large samples ( 11 , 12 , 16 ) but all limited their assessment to knowledge of HIV/STI. The current study’s questionnaire was more comprehensive and included most of the topics recommended by an internationally recognized body of experts (ie, SIECUS).
Similar questionnaire-based studies have been performed in other nations to assess general sexual knowledge among youth ( 26 – 30 ), but the current study was the first to use a questionnaire systematically designed to correspond to our provincially mandated sexual education curriculum.
Although respondents performed well on questions related to pregnancy physiology, they carried several concerning misconceptions related to general reproductive physiology, which could lead to negative outcomes throughout their lifespan.
Respondents were knowledgeable about STI prevention but performed less well on questions related to HIV/AIDS transmission. A previous study showed that most surveyed Canadian teenagers could identify major risk factors for HIV transmission (eg, sharing needles, unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners) ( 31 ). However, our results suggest that teenagers may have a poorer understanding of minor risk factors for HIV transmission (eg, that HIV is not transmitted through all skin-to-skin contact, and is rarely contracted via blood transfusions in Canada).
Many respondents held misconceptions about contraception that could lead to unsafe choices. Belief that the ‘morning-after’ pill causes abortion may lead to underuse of emergency contraception. Overestimation of the contraceptive efficacy of male condoms may explain why many sexually active Canadian girls use condoms without back-up contraception ( 32 ). Failure to understand the risk of smoking while taking oral contraceptives may increase the risk of thromboembolism in later adulthood.
No previous Canadian studies have assessed understanding of sexual consent laws among high school students. Canadians 15 to 24 years of age have an incidence of sexual victimization almost three times higher than the general population ( 33 ). Although learning to engage in ‘responsible sexual relationships’ is an expectation of Ontario’s sexual health curriculum ( 10 ), our findings suggest that Ontario students may have a poor understanding of sexual consent laws despite completing their course requirements. The relationship between this knowledge gap and the risk of sexual victimization could represent a potential area for future study.
High school sexual education classes received the highest average rating of usefulness among all listed sources. Ontario students appear to place great importance on their high school sexual health courses, which should motivate educators and policymakers to ensure that educational quality is maintained.
Interestingly, 17% of respondents rated the usefulness of the Internet as 6 of 7 or 7 of 7, putting it ahead of sexual health classes received before high school and popular media. A decade ago, many young Canadians were already using the Internet as their main source of sexual information ( 31 ). Given the recent explosion of social networking, further studies could explore how the ‘Facebook generation’ uses the Internet for sexual information, to determine whether it would be advantageous to incorporate modern online venues (eg, social networking sites) into sexual education.
The present study used a convenience sample of 200 adolescents from a southwestern Ontario paediatric emergency department. The emergency department setting permitted recruitment of students attending many different schools, an important advantage given the potential for variability in sexual education among schools. However, it is uncertain whether the sample was sufficiently representative to generalize the data to other adolescents in our region. Even more caution is needed before generalizing the data to adolescents from other parts of Canada where cultural, socioeconomic and municipal factors may affect local delivery of sexual education.
Teenagers did not have a separate space in which to complete the questionnaire without the presence of parents. Although parents were asked to refrain from discussing any questions with their children until provided with the answer key, their physical presence may have caused respondents to answer some questions differently. We observed that the study design frequently fostered healthy discussions about sexuality between participants and their parents; however, we must acknowledge that it may have also created bias.
Our questionnaire had an uneven distribution of questions from each category, which may have affected validity through its heterogeneity. For example, there were only two HIV-specific questions; therefore, answering one correctly produced a subscore of 50%; subscores may have been different had there been more HIV-specific questions.
Emergency department patients may also have other risk factors, such as lower socioeconomic status and/or more risk-taking behaviour ( 34 ), which may have affected their scores. While the results may not generalize well to youth outside of the emergency department, they at least suggest that this subset of students has gaps in sexual knowledge.
An important limitation was the use of a previously unvalidated assessment questionnaire, necessitated by the absence of standardized examinations or evaluation methods for sexual education courses in Ontario. Unlike the United States, where the SIECUS guidelines have long existed, Canada lacks national guidelines for content and delivery of school sexual education, which could have provided a benchmark for investigators to use when assessing the sexual knowledge of Canadian students. The Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education, while providing general principles for administering sexual education, provide no specific suggestions for curriculum content or teaching strategies ( 35 ). In the absence of national standards and existing assessment tools, we had to create an original tool. A strength of the present study, however, was the systematic development of its questionnaire based on objective resources (ie, Ontario’s sexual education curriculum, SIECUS guidelines, and Canadian health laws and guidelines). Piloting the questionnaire among a sample of adolescents before its distribution was also a strength of the study; an additional pilot among health care providers experienced in working with adolescents may have further ensured accuracy and inclusion of an appropriate range of topics.
Although respondents disclosed the number of sexual education classes they had taken and the types of schools they attended (urban versus rural, private versus public, religious versus secular), the sample size was inadequately powered to detect significant differences between subgroups. Larger population-based studies are required to determine whether meaningful differences exist.
Finally, the present study could not assess the respondents’ knowledge of topics missing from Ontario’s sexual education curriculum, including sexual orientation, masturbation, sexual fantasy and sexual dysfunction. These topics are excluded despite SIECUS’s recommendations that they be included in any comprehensive sexual education program ( 18 ). Additional studies should assess understanding of these topics among Canadian adolescents, and intervention is required to incorporate these topics into Ontario’s curriculum.
The present study demonstrated significant gaps in sexual knowledge among a sample of Ontario adolescents who had completed their high school sexual education requirements. Subsequent studies are necessary to determine whether these findings can be replicated, and whether clinically meaningful differences exist between subgroups, by using a representative, population-based sample. Educators and policy-makers should consider conducting formal evaluations of high school sexual education courses that are currently being offered.
DISCLOSURE: The authors do not have any real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest to disclose. No honorarium, grant, or other form of payment was given to anyone to produce this article. Dr Maya M Kumar presented the results of this study in an oral platform presentation at the Canadian Paediatric Society Annual Conference on June 16, 2011, in Quebec City, Quebec.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday kept on hold in roughly half the country new regulations about sex discrimination in education, rejecting a Biden administration request.
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The court voted 5-4, with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the three liberal justices in dissent.
At issue were protections for pregnant students and students who are parents, and the procedures schools must use in responding to sexual misconduct complaints.
The most noteworthy of the new regulations, involving protections for transgender students, were not part of the administration’s plea to the high court. They too remain blocked in 25 states and hundreds of individual colleges and schools across the country because of lower court orders.
The cases will continue in those courts.
The rules took effect elsewhere in U.S. schools and colleges on Aug. 1.
The rights of transgender people — and especially young people — have become a major political battleground in recent years as trans visibility has increased. Most Republican-controlled states have banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, and several have adopted policies limiting which school bathrooms trans people can use and barring trans girls from some sports competitions.
In April, President Joe Biden’s administration sought to settle some of the contention with a regulation to safeguard rights of LGBTQ+ students under Title IX, the 1972 law against sex discrimination in schools that receive federal money. The rule was two years in the making and drew 240,000 responses — a record for the Education Department.
The rule declares that it’s unlawful discrimination to treat transgender students differently from their classmates, including by restricting bathroom access. It does not explicitly address sports participation, a particularly contentious topic.
Title IX enforcement remains highly unsettled. In a series of rulings, federal courts have declared that the rule cannot be enforced in most of the Republican states that sued while the litigation continues.
In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court majority wrote that it was declining to question the lower court rulings that concluded that “the new definition of sex discrimination is intertwined with and affects many other provisions of the new rule.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the lower-court orders are too broad in that they “bar the Government from enforcing the entire rule — including provisions that bear no apparent relationship to respondents’ alleged injuries.”
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday kept on hold in roughly half the country new regulations about sex discrimination in education, rejecting a Biden administration request.
The court voted 5-4, with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the three liberal justices in dissent.
At issue were protections for pregnant students and students who are parents, and the procedures schools must use in responding to sexual misconduct complaints.
The most noteworthy of the new regulations, involving protections for transgender students, were not part of the administration's plea to the high court. They too remain blocked in 25 states and hundreds of individual colleges and schools across the country because of lower court orders.
The cases will continue in those courts.
The rules took effect elsewhere in U.S. schools and colleges on Aug. 1.
The rights of transgender people — and especially young people — have become a major political battleground in recent years as trans visibility has increased. Most Republican-controlled states have banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, and several have adopted policies limiting which school bathrooms trans people can use and barring trans girls from some sports competitions.
In April, President Joe Biden’s administration sought to settle some of the contention with a regulation to safeguard rights of LGBTQ+ students under Title IX , the 1972 law against sex discrimination in schools that receive federal money. The rule was two years in the making and drew 240,000 responses — a record for the Education Department.
The rule declares that it’s unlawful discrimination to treat transgender students differently from their classmates, including by restricting bathroom access. It does not explicitly address sports participation , a particularly contentious topic.
Title IX enforcement remains highly unsettled. In a series of rulings , federal courts have declared that the rule cannot be enforced in most of the Republican states that sued while the litigation continues.
In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court majority wrote that it was declining to question the lower court rulings that concluded that “the new definition of sex discrimination is intertwined with and affects many other provisions of the new rule.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the lower-court orders are too broad in that they “bar the Government from enforcing the entire rule — including provisions that bear no apparent relationship to respondents’ alleged injuries.”
The Associated Press
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By The Associated Press
Posted Aug 16, 2024 07:14:09 PM.
Last Updated Aug 16, 2024 07:15:21 PM.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday kept on hold in roughly half the country new regulations about sex discrimination in education, rejecting a Biden administration request.
The court voted 5-4, with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the three liberal justices in dissent.
At issue were protections for pregnant students and students who are parents, and the procedures schools must use in responding to sexual misconduct complaints.
The most noteworthy of the new regulations, involving protections for transgender students, were not part of the administration’s plea to the high court. They too remain blocked in 25 states and hundreds of individual colleges and schools across the country because of lower court orders.
The cases will continue in those courts.
The rules took effect elsewhere in U.S. schools and colleges on Aug. 1.
The rights of transgender people — and especially young people — have become a major political battleground in recent years as trans visibility has increased. Most Republican-controlled states have banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, and several have adopted policies limiting which school bathrooms trans people can use and barring trans girls from some sports competitions.
In April, President Joe Biden’s administration sought to settle some of the contention with a regulation to safeguard rights of LGBTQ+ students under Title IX , the 1972 law against sex discrimination in schools that receive federal money. The rule was two years in the making and drew 240,000 responses — a record for the Education Department.
The rule declares that it’s unlawful discrimination to treat transgender students differently from their classmates, including by restricting bathroom access. It does not explicitly address sports participation , a particularly contentious topic.
Title IX enforcement remains highly unsettled. In a series of rulings , federal courts have declared that the rule cannot be enforced in most of the Republican states that sued while the litigation continues.
In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court majority wrote that it was declining to question the lower court rulings that concluded that “the new definition of sex discrimination is intertwined with and affects many other provisions of the new rule.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the lower-court orders are too broad in that they “bar the Government from enforcing the entire rule — including provisions that bear no apparent relationship to respondents’ alleged injuries.”
The Associated Press
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SHORE Centre offers evidence-based, up-to-date, comprehensive sexual health education. Our programs follow the Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada. These guidelines aim to improve sexual health outcomes including self-esteem, safety and pleasure, while reducing negative outcomes such as unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and harmful relationships.
These improved outcomes are reached by following three key elements: Information, Motivation & Behaviour, known together as the IMB Model. This model highlights the fact that simply providing people with information is not enough to encourage change, and that information must be followed by encouraging motivation and behavioural skills to be effective. Often this model is implemented with activity-based lessons.
We are committed to providing programs that:
• Focus on harm reduction and prevention of unplanned pregnancies, STIs, sexual assault and unhealthy relationships. • Provide accurate, up-to-date evidence based information. • Include activities that address social pressures that influence sexual behaviour. • Provide opportunities for participants to practice skills associated with communication, negotiation, and refusal skills. • Are interactive whenever possible to encourage personalization of the information provided. • Are age appropriate in the manner of delivery, content, stated outcomes and sexual experience of the participants. • Are sensitive to age, culture, ethnicity, racial identity, faith, ability, gender and orientation. • Supplement education happening in the school and home, and generate dialogue between parents/caregivers and their children.
Accurate and inclusive Sexual Health Workshops for all ages delivered in schools and with local community groups.
Peer Theatre Education , an interactive play for youth around sexual health and relationships.
Just4Me , an 8 week youth program delivered in schools and community centres.
Sex-Ability , a program for youth and adults with developmental disabilities.
Newcomer Health Programs provided in several languages around family planning and healthy relationships.
From pre-school to year 12, sexual education is part of the school curriculum in Australia. Source: Getty / Lincoln Beddoe
Other ways to listen, sex ed in schools is controversial, but experts say it's vital for young people to learn about their bodies, identities, and healthy relationships. why are some parents concerned, latest podcast episodes.
International and domestic organized crime groups capitalizing on vulnerable youths, say police.
Police finally had a name — and the suspect was one of their own.
For months, Alberta's Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit sleuthed someone who uploaded two videos showing child sexual exploitation to Snapchat. In late April, investigators learned the suspect's identity: Evan Peacock, a 33-year-old RCMP constable stationed in St. Paul, Alta.
Investigators searched his home, seizing evidence for the forensics team. Peacock, who served more than three years, was arrested and charged with several child pornography offences.
He was released from custody with conditions and suspended with pay. But Alberta RCMP charged him again in June, following an investigation into a man soliciting sex with girls online.
The incidents, which have yet to be proven in court, fall into the realm of online child sexual exploitation — an umbrella term for numerous forms of abuse, such as child pornography, sextortion and online grooming.
It is a growing space that is becoming more difficult to police, experts say. Tens of thousands of cases are reported to Canadian law enforcement, including Albertan agencies, but countless go unreported.
"It really exploded when we had the [COVID-19] pandemic," said Signy Arnason, acting executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
"We had more kids online, increased amount of time — and equally more offenders online looking to harm kids in some capacity."
ICE, a faction of Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), investigates offences involving child pornography, computer-related child sexual abuse, luring over the Internet, voyeurism and child sex trafficking.
Its cases have more than tripled in six fiscal years, from about 1,050 in 2018 to more than 3,800 in 2023, according to its latest annual report.
Data provided by ALERT shows its ICE unit laid about 1,280 charges throughout the last three fiscal years. More than two-thirds were related to child porn — or, child sexual abuse material. Each incident can result in multiple charges.
Reports of online child sexual exploitation and abuse can come from various sources, such as police complaints and Cybertip — the national tipline operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
Social media companies and international agencies, such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States, may also flag incidents or materials they detect.
The RCMP's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre received nearly 103,000 total complaints and reports in fiscal 2022 — an increase of 26 per cent from the previous year, an RCMP spokesperson said.
Cybertip data shows reports from Alberta grew each year from 2020 to 2023 — the only years for which its publicly available data accounts.
A fraction of those reports were forwarded to local law enforcement or child welfare agencies, but that proportion has also grown. Of the nearly 1,500 reports from Alberta last year, one-third were passed along to such organizations, data shows.
Alberta's judicial system, meanwhile, is hearing hundreds of more cases related to online child sexual exploitation, according to data obtained from the justice ministry.
CBC News requested data relating to cases heard in the Court of Justice and Court of King's Bench, from fiscal 2013 to 2023, that involved charges often associated with online child sexual exploitation, such as luring and child pornography offences.
The courts heard roughly 1,500 such cases combined in fiscal 2013, data shows. The caseload reached more than 2,500 in fiscal 2021 — the most during the decade requested.
Last year, the courts heard almost 2,200 cases.
Sexual extortion, or sextortion, is the most rampant exploitation crime right now, officials say. Sgt. Kerry Shima, acting head of the ICE unit, described sextortion as an epidemic.
"It's completely out of control — and, disturbingly, it's probably the most underreported crime that I've ever seen," Shima said. A conversation sparked on social media can turn sexual, leading to requests for nude photos or sexual videos. But now, more offenders are going further: once they receive the abusive material, the threats begin.
Organized crime groups are perpetrating sexual extortion schemes more often, forcing police to manoeuvre international law to go after them.
More than 6,500 sextortion cases have been reported to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in the past 18 months, Arnason told CBC News in June.
From 2021 to 2023, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre — a federal agency that tracks fraud and identity theft — received 1,715 reports of extortion that started on social media.
The anti-fraud centre believes most of those cases, which affected people of all ages, were sextortion incidents — but those are just the ones it knows about.
It estimates only five to 10 per cent of fraudulent incidents are reported.
Historically, financial sextortion was targeted toward adults, but now teenagers — particularly boys — are the main victims, Arnason said.
As such schemes garner success, more people are trying to pull them off because money can be made, she said.
"Part of the challenge is that a lot of these schemes are incredibly successful," Arnason said.
Under international law, the involvement of criminal organizations based outside of the country can obstruct Canadian police during investigations, said Robert Currie, a law professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Countries can be "very picky" when it comes to international law enforcement, he said. Each country has its version of criminal law, so they're careful when interacting with other countries in that realm.
"International law says we do the criminal investigation on our soil and you do it on your soil," Currie said. "If there are solutions, they're around co-operation."
Canada, for example, has the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act .
The legislation allows for Canada to obtain court orders on behalf of other countries for things like search and seizure, gathering evidence and extradition.
Canada can still help countries with which it does not have a treaty, but certain conditions have to be met and the scope is more limited, according to the justice ministry's website .
Currie noted, however, that law enforcement often communicate informally across borders.
"They feed each other information. To an extent, they feed each other evidence — and it's got to be this kind of cross-border co-operation model, because of the limits on enforcement," he said. "These are hard cases because of that."
Alberta's ICE unit navigates similar channels, but co-operation varies depending on the location, Shima said.
American law enforcement, as well as intelligence alliances such as the Five Eyes — between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States — co-operate well, he said.
Investigations alongside countries with no agreements are more difficult, he said.
"The Internet has no boundaries," Shima said.
"It's not to say that [arrests] can't happen. It's just very complicated sometimes."
In cybercrime cases, international law acknowledges that a crime can be committed in two jurisdictions — the offender being in one, the victim in another, Currie said. Canadian police cannot enter another country, but the offender — when arrested — can be tried in Canada.
Currie highlighted the case of Amanda Todd, a teenager from B.C., who killed herself in 2012 after being cyberbullied and sexually extorted by Aydin Coban, a Dutch man in the Netherlands.
The B.C. Supreme Court sentenced Coban to 13 years in prison in 2022. Conversion hearings were held in the Netherlands in 2023 to align the punishment with Dutch law. A Dutch judge sentenced him to six years.
Alberta's ICE unit has seven to nine investigators working at any given time, spread throughout the province.
Once it receives a report, Shima said, the agency will triage it based on location, then further by seriousness.
"We have to because we have too many files for us to work on all at once," he said.
The unit deals with a lot of child pornography collectors and traders, sometimes seizing large collections of abusive material, Shima said. But victims of sextortion are a higher priority.
With few investigators, the ICE unit manages investigations to avoid overwhelming the forensic examination teams and create court delays, Shima said.
Currie echoed that Canadian police don't necessarily have the resources needed for cybercrime investigations.
Officers need better training on international law, such as who to contact in a specific country, and law enforcement agencies need greater cyber expertise, he said.
"There will never be less of these cases," Currie said.
"This is a growth industry — and organized crime gangs are as large and sophisticated as they have ever been."
If you, or someone you know, have been affected by online child sexual exploitation, there are some resources to which you can report the incident or get support:
If in immediate danger, call 9-1-1.
Nicholas Frew is a CBC Edmonton reporter, who specializes in producing data-driven stories. Hailing from Newfoundland and Labrador, Frew moved to Halifax to attend journalism school. He has previously worked for CBC newsrooms in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Before joining CBC, he interned at the Winnipeg Free Press. You can reach him at [email protected].
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His political views differed from a transgender classmate’s, but they forged a bond that lasted a decade — until Mr. Vance seemed to pivot, politically and personally.
By Stephanie Saul
Stephanie Saul, who covers education, reviewed about 90 emails and text messages spanning between 2014 and 2017.
When his book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” was published in 2016, JD Vance sent an email apologizing to a close friend from his Yale Law School days. The friend identified as transgender, but Mr. Vance referred to them in the book as a lesbian.
“Hey Sofes, here’s an excerpt from my book,” Mr. Vance wrote to his friend, Sofia Nelson. “I send this to you not just to brag, but because I’m sure if you read it you’ll notice reference to ‘an extremely progressive lesbian.’”
“I recognize now that this may not accurately reflect how you think of yourself, and for that I am really sorry,” he wrote. “I hope you’re not offended, but if you are, I’m sorry! Love you, JD.”
Nelson wrote back the same day, calling Mr. Vance “buddy” and thanking him for “being sweet,” adding, “If you had written gender queer radical pragmatist, nobody would know what you mean.” Nelson asked for an autographed copy, then signed off with, “Love, Sofia.”
That exchange is from a series of emails between two friends, part of a close-knit group of 16 students who remained together throughout their first law school semester in the fall of 2010. As now-Senator Vance seeks the vice presidency, Nelson has shared about 90 of their emails and text messages, primarily from 2014 through 2017, with The New York Times.
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IMAGES
COMMENTS
Activists rally against so-called gender ideation being taught in schools, marched from Barbara Hall Parkette to Queens Park in Toronto on Wednesday. Sexual education programs designed to foster ...
Parents can now opt their child out of sex-ed lessons with a new policy put into place - this must be completed by Nov. 30. The new curriculum has a stronger and earlier emphasis on mental ...
Advocate at the local, provincial and territorial levels for the use of the Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education as a framework for developing a broadly-based sexual health curriculum, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity.; Establish clear school policies to support teachers in the discussion and delivery of broadly-based sexual health education in the classroom.
Sex education, mandated in most Canadian schools, aims to teach youth about healthy sexual expression and relationships. However, programme delivery may vary widely, and sex education tends to focus on pregnancy and disease prevention and less on interpersonal issues such as relationships and violence. Sex education research tends to follow suit, focusing on dichotomous health outcomes rather ...
The 2019 Canadian guidelines for sexual health education by Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN) are meant to be a guide for educators and policy makers when it comes to comprehensive sexuality education in Canada. The 2019 edition includes new content on the importance of comprehensive sex-ed in Canada, a list of key ...
A National Parent Survey conducted by the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada in 2020 found that 90 per cent of parents surveyed in B.C. agreed that sexual health education should be ...
A large study by Alex McKay, executive director of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, and colleagues found that 87 per cent of Ontario parents agreed that sexual health education ...
The goal was and is to prepare knowledgeable, inclusive educators and improve the experience of those who may be marginalized because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in our programs, classrooms and workplaces. None of this work has taken place in a vacuum. Our work augments earlier work within the Faculty of Education and ...
Alex McKay of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada said the new program is a "significant move" toward bringing Ontario in line with some of the other provinces in providing ...
These Questions and Answers are designed to support the implementation of the Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education 2. The Guidelines are based on evidence that broadly-based sexual health education should reflect the diverse needs and realities of all people in ways that are age-appropriate, evidence-based, scientifically accurate ...
sources of support with respect to sexual health (for example, parents, health professionals, in-school resources, local community groups and religious, spiritual, and cultural leaders) gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, and to identify factors that can help all young people to develop positive personal identities
In Canada, education and healthcare are provincial jurisdiction, and so each province has differing education systems and different sex education curricula. In Ontario, some form of sex education has been present in schools since the early 1900s. From 1925 to 1933, the Ontario Health Department charged nurse Agnes Haygarth to give lectures on ...
Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, SIECCAN. The Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education provide guidance to educators and policy makers for the development and evaluation of comprehensive evidence-based sexual health education in Canada. The revised 2019 Guidelines include new content: a section documenting the importance ...
The Ontario government's revised sex-education curriculum for elementary schools includes instruction on health, cyber safety and consent, and requires school boards to allow parents to exempt ...
Most 15- to 17-year-olds in Canada reported having at least one source of sexual health information (96.6%). More than half identified school (55.6%) and parents or guardians (51.2%) as sources of sexual health information. The internet (45.9%), friends (36.2%), and health care professionals (20.9%) were other common sources.
Approaches to sexuality education in Ontario, Canada are heavily contested as conversations continue regarding the place of comprehensive sexuality education within Ontario school boards and how such debates construct children and childhood (e.g. Bialystok, 2018, 2019; Bialystok et al., 2020; Davies, 2021; Davies and Kenneally, 2020; Grace, 2018). ...
The Sex Information & Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN) is a not-for-profit charitable organization established in 1964 that works with health professionals, educators, community organizations, governments, and corporate partners to promote sexual and reproductive health.
The grade at which children are told about STIs and their prevention: Ontario: Grade 7. B.C.: Grade 6. Alberta: Grade 6. Saskatchewan: Grade 6. Manitoba: Grade 7. Quebec: Between 12-17 years old ...
In Canada, education is under provincial jurisdiction and almost every province's high school curriculum contains formal sexual education. Within the province of Ontario, sexual education is a subcomponent of health and physical education courses; each course is comprised of approximately 110 h of instruction.
Counterprotesters to the One Million March for Children Canada, by activists against so-called gender ideation being taught in schools, marched from Barbara Hall Parkette to Queens Park in Toronto on Wednesday. ... "What sex education does in our schools is actually give our children education and information. And that's not indoctrination ...
310-1818 available 24/7. Online Chat available with trained staff, 8 am to 8 pm daily. Alberta's One Line for Sexual Violence is available to anyone in Alberta who is looking for support or referrals to specialized sexual assault services. 1-866-403-8000 (call or text)
Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday kept on hold in roughly half the country new regulations about sex discrimination in education, rejecting a ...
Ontario, Canada's most populous province, introduced a new sex-ed curriculum in 2015 in an attempt to modernise the programme in light of many changes to Canadian society and the growth of social ...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday kept on hold in roughly half the country new regulations about sex discrimination in education, rejecting a Biden administration request.. The court voted 5-4, with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the three liberal justices in dissent. At issue were protections for pregnant students and students who are parents, and the procedures ...
In April, President Joe Biden's administration sought to settle some of the contention with a regulation to safeguard rights of LGBTQ+ students under Title IX, the 1972 law against sex discrimination in schools that receive federal money. The rule was two years in the making and drew 240,000 responses — a record for the Education Department.
SHORE Centre offers evidence-based, up-to-date, comprehensive sexual health education. Our programs follow the Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada. These guidelines aim to improve sexual health outcomes including self-esteem, safety and pleasure, while reducing negative outcomes such as unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted ...
From pre-school to year 12, sexual education is part of the school curriculum in Australia. Source: Getty / Lincoln Beddoe
Online child sexual exploitation is a growing problem worldwide — and Alberta is no exception. With limited resources, police are forced to triage the most serious cases and, more often, work ...
The cases will continue in those courts. The rules took effect elsewhere in U.S. schools and colleges on Aug. 1. The rights of transgender people — and especially young people — have become a ...
Stephanie Saul, who covers education, reviewed about 90 emails and text messages spanning between 2014 and 2017. Published July 27, 2024 Updated July 29, 2024