Sext ed? Ontario's new sexual education plan to include Internet advice

New sex education guidelines released by the Canadian province of Ontario on Monday will include giving students advice on sexting and the dangers of online communication.

The changes are an attempt to update guidelines that have not been altered in the province since 1998, and are in part a reflection of the changing social environments in which students find themselves as they spend more of their lives online.

“The world has changed a lot in the last 15 years,” said Ontario province education minister Liz Sandals in a press conference Monday. “Students have instant access to quite explicit information from unreliable, inaccurate and often offensive sources.”

The new guidelines call for first graders to learn ways to avoid dangerous situations online, including “how to get help for themselves or others if harassment or abuse happens.”

As students grow older, the online aspect of the curriculum become more sophisticated.

“Students in Grades 4 and up will learn more about using technology to support learning and improved communication, and about the dangers of online bullying,” the Canadian Press said of the curriculum. That would subsequently include more instruction on the “risks of sexting” and exploring “possible legal, social and emotional implications of sending sexually explicit digital images online.”

"As students get older, they are more likely to sext," the new guidelines read. "Many students are unaware of the potential effects and consequences of sexting."

The new guidelines are not merely an attempt to update sex education to the increasingly digital world, however. The curriculum also includes an acknowledgement of changing social mores, including the different status of homosexuality in society. Gay marriage became legal across Canada in 2005.

Previous attempts to update the curriculum in 2010 were shelved after vocal protests by some social conservatives.

This time, the province plans to go ahead with the guidelines undeterred.

Kathlen Wynne, the premier of Ontario — and the first openly gay premier of any Canadian province — told reporters on Monday: “We are very committed to this.”

The new guidelines are set to go into effect for the new school year that begins in September, and are to cover both public and Catholic schools. Unique among Canadian provinces, Ontario funds religious schools of the Catholic faith exclusively.