After a Toronto Public School teacher was found to have sexually explicit brochures posted in his classroom, he and the school’s administration are under investigation by the school district.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) reportedly found out about the materials as a result of an inquiry from a Sun News Network reporter last Friday. The brochures, which were immediately removed, were posted back in October on a bulletin board the teacher made for his seventh and eighth-grade classroom.
One such brochure, created by the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), is titled “Use Your Head When Giving It” and features a picture of a man with his pants down, apparently receiving oral sex from another man. The pamphlet includes tips for “giving good blow jobs,” in addition to advice for avoiding syphilis and other Sexually Transmitted Infections.
ACT spokesman Andrew Brett told the Toronto Sun that the brochures are meant to target gay adults and are meant to be posted in gay bath houses and bars. “We do use explicit language because we’re targeting a specific community where this kind of language is warranted and needed,” he told the Toronto Sun.
The classroom's teacher, identified as Wade Vroom, was ordered to work from home. The Toronto Star reports that the school's principal sent a letter home to parents Tuesday, explaining that a replacement teacher would be instructing their children in Vroom’s absence.
While Principal Marc Mullan maintains he did not know about the brochures, an investigation was opened to discover how Mullen and the school’s senior administration allowed the brochures to stay posted for so long, according to the Sun News Network.
Ryan Bird, a spokesman for the TDSB, defended Vroom, saying that he was probably trying to connect with his students in a youthful way.
“[The brochures] were put up by the teacher in an attempt to speak more directly to youth on what is a sensitive topic,” Bird told the Toronto Sun. “Having said that, it was clearly inappropriate and has been taken down.”
Education officials, such as Canadian Education Minister Liz Sandal and Member of Provincial Parliament Lisa Macleod were angered by the incident. Said Macleod to the Toronto Star, "Enough is enough. The Toronto District School Board is clearly out of control when it comes to this."
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