Bill 44: Parental rights measure welcomed and feared

CALGARY -- Calgary mother Maria Doll thinks schools should mainly stick to teaching the three Rs - reading, writing and arithmetic - and leave lessons on religion and sexuality for parents to lead.

With one child nearly finished high school and another about to start Grade 8, there have been times Doll felt educators didn't properly notify her before these sensitive topics were discussed in the classroom.

Doll hopes she won't be kept in the dark again about her children's education, now that parental rights will officially be entrenched in the province's human rights law this week. As of Sept. 1, parents will have strengthened authority to pull their children out of lessons on religion, human sexuality, and sexual orientation.

"When it gets into areas of thorny issues of religious values, I'm the primary educator of my child. I don't want the school to do something that's contrary to my beliefs," explained Doll, who practices the Roman Catholic faith, but elected to enrol her children in the public school system.

"Hopefully, there will be more notifi cation for parents to decide if they want their children to sit in on those particular lessons or not."

While Doll and many other Alberta parents are welcoming this Canadian first, opponents of the controversial measure - which sparked fierce political debates and protests at the legislature last year - worry the new rules will create a chilling effect on teachers and water down classroom talk.

"Discussion in the classroom is very unpredictable. Teachers, at some points, have to steer it one way or another," noted Marilyn Sheptycki, president of the Alberta School Councils' Association, which represents parents.

"We don't want to see teachers having to stifle that good conversation."