A survey of 1,250 teens from diverse backgrounds in Toronto found that what youth want more than anything else is information, said lead researcher Sarah Flicker, a professor in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, wrote Canwest News Service June 2.
“I think access to sexual-health education is a basic human right,” Flicker said. “We know, through research, that lots of young people are sexually active and many of them don’t ask their parents’ permission.”
Their fear won’t be lessened, she said, by legislation such as Alberta’s Bill 44, which passed a tense vote in the provincial legislature early Tuesday after hours of heated debate. The bill enshrines parents’ right to withdraw their children from classes on sexual orientation, sexuality or religion.
Flicker said any law that throws up walls between kids and the sexual information they need will only lead some to make uninformed, risky choices. “It’s clear that one-size-fits-all prevention strategies don’t work; we need to be tailoring our health-promotion and prevention strategies to meet the needs of diverse young people,” she said. “We need to be addressing issues of racism, of sexism, of homophobia in our curriculum, and talking about how these harmful messages can often impede our ability to make really good choices.”
Among other things, the survey suggested what most youth want is information about how to have healthy relationships. Flicker said the challenge now is to figure out how to provide that information. “It’s really about starting with open, honest and clear communication with young people – about their bodies, about their rights, about their choices and opportunities.”
- "Unfriendly” waiting rooms, fear of judgment and a general apathy toward the anatomical focus of their sex-ed classes mean many sexually active teens aren’t bothering to visit doctors or clinics to discuss their sexual health, a new survey from Planned Parenthood Toronto reveals, wrote The Globe And Mail June 3.
Teens want to learn about healthy relationships and sexual pleasure, but their education has focused largely on sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and birth control.
Learning about healthy relationships in school ties directly into better safe-sex practices because adolescents who know how to communicate with their partners are more likely to succeed in negotiating condom use, said Sarah Flicker, one of the study authors and a professor of environmental studies at York University.
- Despite sex education in schools and information from friends, parents, medical professionals, the Internet and the mass media, many young women and men don’t know “sex was supposed to feel good,” says researcher Sarah Flicker, a professor of environmental studies at York University, wrote the Ottawa Citizen June 3. She was involved in a major study of more than 1,200 Toronto teens.
The ground-breaking report found the young people surveyed aren’t getting what they want from sex education – information about sexual pleasure and relationships. Only 42 per cent said they had learned about sexual pleasure. And about 10 per cent – 13 per cent of the teen boys and eight per cent of the girls – said they had learned nothing at all. In many cases, these were older teens who were recent immigrants who had missed mandatory sex education in school.
Even mass culture wasn’t doing much for them, said Flicker, who wasn’t surprised to learn that teens want to know more about relationships and pleasure. But she was surprised by “how basic” was the information that they lacked. “Something is broken in this picture,” she said.
- Overall, 37 per cent of teens in the survey said they were sexually active, but some didn’t know how to define “sex”, wrote CBCNews.ca June 2. “Very surprising to us was that many kids were unsure about whether they had had sex or not,” said one of the study’s authors, Sarah Flicker, a professor of environmental studies at York University. “And even among those who were unsure, some reported that they had engaged in oral sex, anal sex or vaginal sex.”
Of those surveyed, 83 per cent said they had never accessed sexual heath care from a doctor or a clinic, many because of concerns over confidentiality and fear of being judged. “The information and services that work for a 14-year-old Asian lesbian are not going to be the same as what works for an 18-year-old straight African male who is a newcomer to Canada,” said Flicker.
- The survey of 1,216 teens ages 13 to 18 is a joint project of Planned Parenthood Toronto, York University, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University and Toronto Public Health, wrote The Canadian Press and Broadcast News June 2. It found 83 per cent of respondents had never accessed sexual heath care from a doctor or a clinic, many because of concerns over confidentiality.
- Sarah Flicker, professor in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, spoke about the latest study of teens’ sexuality and health on CBC Radio in Calgary, Alta., Charlottetown, PEI; Halifax, NS; Montreal, Que.; and Toronto, and Toronto radio stations 680 News and CFRB June 2. The study was also discussed on CTV and Citytv and on CBC Newsworld and CBC-TV’s “The Hour” June 2.
Award-winning medical sisters and lawyer all studied at York
York grads Lorelei Silverman-Gavrila (MSc ’99, PhD ’03) and her sister Rosalind Silverman-Gavrila (MSc ’00, PhD ’03) came to Canada from Romania 12 years ago with excitement, a wealth of experience in their respective fields and a belief that they would land jobs within about a week of their arrival, wrote Canadian Immigrant magazine, in online coverage of its 2009 Top 25 Canadian Immigrants/People’s Choice Awards.
The Silverman sisters, along with Osgoode grad Chia-Yi Chua (LLB ’93), were among the 25 immigrants honoured with the award, which recognizes people who have come to Canada and have made a positive difference living here.
Only after sending out dozens of resumés did the Silvermans realize they would need “Canadian experience”. So the 26-year-olds went back to school and completed master’s and doctoral degrees in York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, with distinction, in three years’ time. They both also received prestigious fellowships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
Today, they both work for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. While Lorelei is a neuroscientist studying learning and memory, Rosalind is a cell biologist studying cell division. Nominated together, the sisters also volunteer for many charitable foundations such as Second Harvest, Jewish Mosaic Festival, Impact Toronto and more.
Chua admits he experienced a bad case of culture shock upon arriving in Canada as a student from Singapore in 1988, wrote Canadian Immigrant. But that didn’t deter the future lawyer from getting involved in various leadership activities at school, soon becoming the president of [Bethune College Council] at York University and then the chair of its Student Centre. Even today, he mentors junior tax associates, helping them advance both their technical and business development skills. The partner at Fraser Milner Casgrain’s tax law group in Toronto has devoted himself to diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace and is particularly proud of his role as co-chair of his firm’s diversity committee. Chua was admitted to the bar in Ontario in 1995 and British Columbia in 1997.
Schulich grad on Air France flight had ‘great life’, says family
Norene Clemes hasn’t seen her jet-setting son as often as a mother would like during the past 14 years, wrote The Canadian Press June 3. But now, as she awaits official word that York grad Brad Clemes (MBA ’92) perished with more than 200 others when Air France Flight 447 vanished Monday over the Atlantic Ocean, she’s holding dear to her heart their last visit several weeks ago.
“It was one of the few times that I had a one-on-one with him for any length of time. It was really very special, actually,” Clemes said when reached at her Guelph home. “I said to him, ‘How many times have we, in the last few years, been alone – actually alone – together?’ So it was very special.”
- Norene Clemes spoke about her son on radio stations in North Battleford and Saskatoon, Sask. June 2. Clemes’ brother and friends also spoke about him on CTV June 2.
New law will complicate Canada’s foreign relations, says Osgoode prof
Deciding which countries to list [as sponsoring terrorists] could open Canada up to some thorny diplomatic situations, wrote the National Post June 3, citing a York legal expert. “It’s hard to imagine that the government would put on to a list of states that sponsor terrorism any country that we even marginally do business with, or want to have the slightest of diplomatic relations with,” said James Morton, a litigation lawyer and adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School.
“Even if you take some of the more extreme countries in the world, does Canada really want to list, for example, Iran as a country that is officially a state sponsoring terrorism? It means that we just will not have any economic, financial, diplomatic dealings with Iran,” Morton said. “They’re just going to stop talking to us.”
If the bill becomes law, Canadians would be able to seek compensation for terrorist acts committed as far back as Jan. 1, 1985, regardless of where the acts were committed, wrote the Post.
- Experts and opposition MPs warn that process could cause diplomatic problems, wrote The Vancouver Sun June 3. “Does Canada really want to list, for example, Iran as a country that is officially a state sponsoring terrorism?” asked James Morton, an adjunct professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School. “It means that we just will not have any economic, financial, diplomatic dealings with Iran. They’re just going to stop talking to us.”
- Morton spoke about the federal government’s move to permit victims of terrorists to sue on CBC Newsworld June 2.
World’s arbitrators meet at Osgoode Professional Development Centre
International arbitrators from 33 countries are gathering this week in Toronto as part of the second annual International Association of Procedural Law Conference, held June 3 to 5 at the Advocates’ Society and the Osgoode Professional Development Centre, wrote legal columnist Jim Middlemiss in the National Post June 3.