THE GREEN LINE
ORIGINAL STORY
Sex-ed program in Flemingdon Park makes 'The Talk' less cringe for local youth
How Sex Education by Theatre — or SEXT — is addressing the North York neighbourhood's need for healthier conversations about sex.
SEX EDUCATION BY THEATRE PEER MENTOR SARA AHMED SITS INSIDE THE FLEMINGDON HEALTH CENTRE.
: AMANDA SERAPHINA/THE GREEN LINE
ANEESA BHANJI
Currently a journalism student at Toronto Metropolitan University who's also studying communication and design. Grew up in Vaughan, now living in downtown Toronto. Always loves a good chai latte.
AMANDA SERAPHINA JAMES RAJAKUMAR
Indian immigrant with a post-grad in journalism from Centennial College. Now living in Grange Park, meeting new people, and hearing different stories. Has four names, so it’s a pick-your-player situation.
March 8, 2024
We all know how awkward “the birds and the bees” conversation can be.
That’s why one local initiative in Flemingdon Park is trying to make “the talk” less cringe.
Located right near the Don Valley, Flemingdon Park is a dense neighbourhood populated by many newcomers. It became a flashpoint in 2015 during the controversy over Ontario's updated sex education curriculum. At the time, a parent-led campaign in the North York neighbourhood kept thousands of students home to protest the curriculum changes, which introduced concepts such as gender identity, sexual orientation and masturbation.
In response, public health advocate and artist Shira Taylor created a program called SEXT — or Sex Education by Theatre — which teaches teens how to talk openly about relationships and sexual health through theatre.
"My goal was to bring my theatre background and use theatre as a way that we could stop making this topic so serious and stigmatized and make it more relatable and even just fun,” she explains.
After this, Taylor saw the need for the program even more.
Taylor adds that sexually transmitted infections are on the rise among young Torontonians, particularly in underserved communities like Thorncliffe and Flemingdon Park with a lot of newcomer youth.
SHIRA TAYLOR, CREATOR AND DIRECTOR OF SEX EDUCATION BY THEATRE STANDS IN FRONT OF A MURAL AT THE FLEMINGDON HEALTH CENTRE.
: AMANDA SERAPHINA/THE GREEN LINE
Since launching in 2014, SEXT has toured over 55 high schools across Canada.
Ibraheem, 16, says the program helps him feel more at ease discussing what his family considers a taboo topic.
“There was a stigma around it. And it's still true, especially with the older generation. And my mom is religious, so I didn't know how she would feel if I told her," Ibraheem, who’s originally from Pakistan, explains.
“I feel like I would also be more comfortable talking about it [now] because before it's weird.”
SEX EDUCATION BY THEATRE PEER MENTOR SARA AHMED (PICTURED RIGHT) AND PARTICIPANT IBRAHEEM (PICTURED LEFT) CHAT IN THE FLEMINGDON HEALTH CENTRE.
: AMANDA SERAPHINA/THE GREEN LINE
When Taylor first presented her idea to local high schools in Flemingdon Park, they told her it would be difficult to find youth willing to join.
“There was a young man who had gotten into some trouble in class for doing something with a banana. And I was like: Oh, this is the perfect youth to talk to,” she recounts.” So, I told him I had this idea where we talk about any issues that are going on in the community, and then you can come up with skits and songs and raps and dances about it.”
With "sex" in its name, the program initially had a marketing problem. So Flemingdon Health Centre decided to promote it as NEXT — Newcomer Education By Theatre — to encourage teens to sign up.
"I think one of the approaches we took was changing the name of the program from Sex Education by Theatre to Next Education by Theatre to offer a more inclusive approach and a less intimidating approach for both the youth and the parents,” says Salma Sufi, a community health worker at Flemingdon Health Centre.
Today, some of the youth who finished the program have graduated to become peer mentors, including Sara Ahmed who first saw the SEXT theatre show in 2014 and later joined as a participant in 2016.
YOUTH IN FLEMINGDON PARK'S SEX EDUCATION BY THEATRE PROGRAM PERFORM IN THEIR ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO, 'BODAK CONSENT.'
: SEX EDUCATION BY THEATRE
“I didn't get a formal birds and the bees talk with my family, but I think that through the program and [with] the youth now…we're coming up with ways to find, to deliver information in a way that is relevant to them through the use of theatre because they see themselves in these characters," the 24-year-old says.
"I think it allows us to kind of open up that conversation [about] mental health and our bodies."
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