Steinbach school issues gag order to teachers

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This article was published 26/05/2021 (1738 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALLING the COVID-19 vaccine and mature minor consent “controversial topics,” senior administrators at Steinbach Regional Secondary School have asked teachers to refrain from related conversation or debate in their classrooms.

Last week, leadership at the high school of more than 1,700 students in Steinbach — which has one of the top five lowest adult immunization rates of all health districts in Manitoba — sent staff a memo noting that students aged 12 and older are eligible for a shot.

“Please note that these are controversial topics in classrooms and with families. Do not enter into these conversations or debates with your students,” states the email. “We have our own beliefs and values on topics related to all things (COVID-19) but the classroom is not the place to debate them. We must respect the family unit and their decisions.”

The note asks staff to direct students who want information about vaccine appointments or mature minor consent to either the Health Links or vaccination appointment telephone number.

(Mature minor consent is age 16 in Manitoba, but younger students can go through an informed consent process if they arrive at an appointment alone, without a signed consent form. A clinical lead at an immunization site will assess a youth’s ability to consent on their own and proceed with a vaccine if they are satisfied.)

“This email was a principal’s attempt to just make sure teachers are aware of sensitivities in the community because there’s been a lot in the media and social media as of late,” said Shelley Amos, superintendent of Hanover School Division.

Amos said teachers should be objective parties on any topic, who provide accurate information to their students, instead of projecting personal views.

The notice was proactive since the division has not heard much from parents concerned about how the vaccine is being discussed in any of its schools, she said, adding the division has been forwarding public health information to families whenever asked — including a recent letter about the expanded criteria for the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.

The province’s latest vaccination uptake data show 34.4 per cent of residents in Steinbach aged 18 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That figure is 23.8 per cent in the neighbouring health district of Hanover.

The total number of adults in Manitoba who are partially or fully immunized against the virus is 60.3 per cent.

Access and distrust are among the many factors that affect rates of vaccination. Last week, the province announced it is communicating with religious leaders in southern Manitoba to help boost figures in the health region with the lowest uptake.

“In communities where vaccines might already be a touchy subject, it is understandable that schools may be reluctant to participate,” said Michelle Driedger, a researcher of public health communications and vaccine hesitancy at the University of Manitoba, in an email Tuesday. “But schools are places where kids are supposed to be confronted with alternative viewpoints and perspectives.”

Drawing on her experience as a mother, Driedger said kids often value their teachers’ expertise in ways that they don’t of their own parents.

Schools are great places to normalize conversations about vaccines and give students opportunities to ask questions to a trusted adult who is not their parent, said the professor of community health sciences.

As for teachable moments, COVID-19 vaccines, related studies, and reputable sources such as ProtectMB, Doctors Manitoba and Health Canada can be valuable tools for building science literacy in class, Driedger said.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie