Durham Chronicle 17-18 Issue 12

The following piece is the opinion of
the Durham College journalism student
whose name and picture accompanies this
column.
The following piece is the opinion of
the Durham College journalism student
whose name and picture accompanies this
column.
Two posters on UOIT campus in
February caught the attention of
students as well as the Toronto Star
and the Toronto Sun.
The first posters’ objective was
to draw attention to privileges
such as male, heterosexual, white,
Christian, etc. and the second
poster invited students to consider
what privileges they would check
off.
The posters were taken down
because a number of students
complained and labelled the
posters “offensive” and “racist."
The posters were not offensive or
The following piece is the opinion of
the Durham College journalism student
whose name and picture accompanies this
column
The Ontario education system is
failing its students with disabilities
by denying them the right to thrive
socially and academically. That is
absolutely unacceptable.
Ontario’s education system is
supposed to be inclusive, but after
a recent province-wide survey for
the campaign, “If inclusion means
chronicle.durhamcollege.ca April 24 - 30, 2018 The Chronicle 5
Opinion
Doug Ford will be a disaster as premier
Jasper
Myers
racist but rather a way of bringing
awareness to the fact that people
of colour or physically disabled
people are marginalized, while
dominant race and non-disabled
individuals are privileged.
The privileges certain groups
of people enjoy should be recognized
and acknowledged.
Being able to help one another
is a way of uniting together as a
group regardless of ethnicity, religious
and gender differences.
Acknowledging that one might
have access to specific resources is
one of the very first steps to help
those who don’t have access to
such resources.
This step towards change in society
is needed because discrimination
in the workplace still exists.
According to a study from Harvard
Business School, employers
are most likely to hire a minority
with a “whitened” resume, which
means that these candidates delete
references from their background
everyone, why not ME?” it is painfully
obvious it isn’t. Approximately
300 parents of children with disabilities
were interviewed across
the province, and their reports are
nothing short than tragic and appalling.
According to the campaign, “If
inclusion means everyone, why not
ME?”, 45 per cent of children with
disabilities have to be kept home
due to lack of accommodation
and services. Students can also be
removed from their classrooms if
there are concerns for their safety
or due to behavioural problems, effectively
leaving them isolated and
feeling alone.
Students are not just being denied
time in the classroom. They
are being denied the right to attend
Ford is a very familiar name in Ontario,
especially and he could soon
be our next premier. If Ford is elected
it will spell trouble for Ontario.
While it’s important to remember
he is not his brother, and not
to use Rob’s past against the older
Ford, he is not without his flaws,
and could cause quite a stir if elected
this June.
Upon first look some of Ford’s
plans as premier sound ideal.
He said he wants to give healthcare
sectors fresh resources to
eliminate what he calls, “hallway
healthcare”. As well, Ford wants
to find “efficiencies” at Queen’s
Park to help the funding shortfall
Ontario would face if they don’t
put a carbon tax into effect, which
Ford opposes.
But he has also made some questionable
promises.
Ford said he would freeze minimum
wage and repeal the new sex
education curriculum.
“Help is on its way. Resources
are on their way and I promise your
voices will be heard,” said Ford at
the Toronto Congress Centre. He
plans on giving the healthcare sector
resources to stop stretchers from
being put in hallways.
But Ford also believes minors
should need parental permission
for an abortion. An abortion is
no small procedure, and it comes
with challenges. But making minors
need permission will do more
harm.
There are various reasons someone
might not want to tell their
parents they’re pregnant and need
an abortion. The parent may say
no, forcing the child to go through
a pregnancy that could be detrimental
to the child’s health. They
could be kicked out, maybe they
are afraid or ashamed to tell their
parents, and it’s not right to take the
choice away from the child. They
may be young, but it’s their body.
Then there’s the sex education
curriculum, a hot campaign topic.
The new sex education curriculum
has been a highly-debated
topic and it continues to be a
source of controversy. Ford wants
to review the curriculum saying a
lot of parents are upset, although he
never said when or who he spoke to.
Ford believes parents should decide
what their children learn about
hoping to be more qualified for
the job.
The study shows that those
candidates are more likely to get
hired than the ones who kept their
references, proving that these employers
prefer hiring white candidates
rather minorities no matter
the skills of the individual.
One might argue that a person
must achieve their goals on their
own regardless of their race. This
is the message the privilege posters
were trying to draw attention
to except the posters were taken
out of context.
If the more privileged people in
society were able to recognize that
sometimes minorities have to hide
their background to be considered
for a job interview or anything
else they’re faced with, discrimination
wouldn’t be a big problem.
Being aware of having certain
privileges would help eliminate
oppression in our society
because it would give those who
school period.
Of the parents surveyed, 11 per
cent reported their children were
expelled from school for disability-related
problems, while 23 per
cent reported their children were
suspended for the same reason.
This tops off alarming statistics
released in 2015-2016 by the Ministry
of Education, which showed
46.9 per cent of suspensions and
46.4 per cent of expulsions were
students with disabilities.
These issues could be avoided if
teachers and educational assistants
were properly trained to handle
students with disabilities.
According to an article written
by Janet McLaughlin of The Huffington
Post, there are teachers and
EA not trained to collect data on
sex and when but the curriculum
isn’t teaching children anything
they’re too young for.
In grade one, children learn
about their body parts, their five
senses and personal hygiene, as well
as their own personal safety. They
don’t begin to learn about sexual
health until around grade five.
Ford has also said the curriculum
shouldn’t be about teaching
“Liberal ideology”, which can be
interpreted in different ways when
looking at the actual curriculum.
Last of the big issues is minimum
wage and jobs.
Ford wants to freeze the wage at
$14/hour instead of it going to $15
in January. In fairness, he did say
he wants to eliminate provincial
taxes for those earning less than
$30,000, but he didn’t explain how
he would do that or make up the
money that would be lost.
On top of that, he said he would
UOIT privilege posters not offensive or racist
Leslie
Ishimwe
are prejudiced a chance to voice
their opinions, to be heard and to
supported. This would generate a
positive change.
A great example of this is police
brutality, racial profiling and
sexism.
According to Capitol News,
in 1997 Indigenous represented
12 per cent of the prison population.
In 2016, the rate went up by
26 per cent. At 4.3 per cent of the
population, the Indigenous community
represents 25 per cent of
inmates. Indigenous communities
are being discriminated against.
Some people might presume
the privilege posters are not
enough to help fight discrimination
like this, but they are one of
many of steps being made to find
a solution to this often-ignored societal
issue.
For instance, when a disabled
person finds no access to an elevator,
the privilege of accessing
other floors in a building is
the child’s behaviour. While school
boards don’t have necessary clinical
supervision for some students
some school boards use methods
inspired by the Applied Behaviour
Analysis, rather than the comprehensive
process.
Autism Canada describes ABA
as a process that teaches individuals
the science of behaviour and how
to handle children with disabilities
through intervention. If teachers
and EAs aren’t trained in ABA, is
it any wonder children are being
thrown out of classrooms?
Ontario’s education system is
telling these children it is easier
not to deal with them rather than
make sure they have the support
they need.
It is fair to say it is sometimes
cut provincial taxes for doctors in
northern Ontario right down to
zero per cent, meaning those in a
higher income bracket would get
a tax break. But when it came to
employment Ford hasn’t been very
specific.
He spoke about how the province
lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs,
and how he’s going to get the jobs
back but it’s not clear if he blames
job losses on the minimum wage
increase or not, especially because
this specific loss is from four years
ago and a Scotiabank study found
the job losses are not where they
should be if caused by the wage
increase.
Doug Ford is not the worst candidate
in the running, but he’s also
not the best.
He has plans that will not better
the province. His promises will
cause a lot of problems and anger
and upset.
lost. Acknowledging that being
able-bodied is a privilege is a step
that will help to increase accessible
areas for disabled individuals.
We can help those who need
accessibility without checking the
privilege box on the UOIT posters
but the message behind the
posters is a reminder: help those
in need by changing how you see
privilege.
Therefore, checking the privilege
box isn’t racist or trying to
make those who are privileged
feel guilty for what they’ve got. It’s
a way of uplifting one another.
The white race is the privileged
race in this society because the
white race has access to resources
minorities lack.
There’s a lot of work that needs
to be done to fight discrimination
but recognizing that it still exists is
the key to ending it.
It’s what’s done next that will
determine whether individuals
make a change.
We need inclusivity for children with disabilities
Jackie
Graves
necessary to remove children with
complex disabilities from the school
or classroom for reasons of safety.
That does not mean those children
should be denied their right to be
in the classroom. Period.
Students with disabilities are
should not be an afterthought.
They need access to resources necessary
to make sure they stay in
the classroom. They should have
a fulfilling educational and social
experience which helps them reach
their fullest potential.
These children have every right
to learn, every right to develop
their social skills as equals among
their peers and, above all, every
right to attend schools equipped
with the proper resources and the
right attitude.