This 'harmful concept' of family by the Waterloo District School Board requires investigation and potential disciplinary action. Their 'Family' definition is disturbing if this article is accurate. If not, then these 'news' sites should be investigated.
Here is the definition of 'Family' an ancient term-
The term family generally refers to a group of individuals connected by blood, marriage, adoption, or close emotional ties who typically live together or maintain strong social and emotional bonds.
There are different ways to define family depending on the context:
1. Biological definition: A group consisting of parents and their children.
2. Legal definition: Individuals related by marriage, birth, or adoption as recognized by law.
3. Sociological definition: A social unit that provides emotional support, caregiving, and a sense of identity, which can include extended relatives or chosen family (e.g., close friends or partners).
In short, a family is a group of people who care for and support one another, often bound by kinship or long-term commitment.
For sure. Important to know the accuracy of what we post so perhaps yeah inquiring with the federation. Sometimes it is difficult to know the actual truth of what is being spewed- is it accurate as reported and/or are the counter denials accurate and truthful or naive. Nevertheless the concept of the negative family definition was disturbing. It is important to be aware of this concerning possibility if it is happening as reported.
If you remember the materials have Waterloo-Oxford on them, that’s an indication that the school board ultimately bears responsibility for the materials and hence the bigoted and disturbing view expressed. It’s everyone’s responsibility to read the story correctly, I did link the original piece so that readers could get the breaking original story for themselves. It’s ultimately the superintendent’s responsibility, it happened on his watch in his district.
Thanks for pointing out the discrepancy. I’ve corrected it.
You can see the blog post from the WRDSB themselves confirming the story and providing context. It’s above (or below?) in the comments here. Seems it’s real. Apparently there’s some ongoing drama or controversy about using family versus parent. I linked that tweet from the journalist who broke the story also, in the comments here.
I appreciate you pointing out the discrepancy and calling the superintendent yourself. It was a sloppy bit of work and I learned my lesson. I’ve asked Juno if they corroborated the story prior to publishing and I’ve asked the OSSTF And WODSS to comment on Xwitter and if I don’t get a response I’ll contact them privately via email next week. Thanks for your diligence. I learned a lesson. 😎🧠
Also as a follow up I called the Waterloo District School Board and the Superintendent of the Board said that in no way do they define or train their staff to define family the way this article depicts nor discourage the use of that word family because of a negative connotation. He said they only speak about the term family in a positive way.
Please provide further links to how this negative view by the Board came into play.
I provided the link to the breaking story from Juno News. They received the information from an anonymous source. Suggestion you ask them how they came on this information and why they say they disagree and yet this appears to be from a PD day.
Melanie Bennet of True North wrote the breaking story, the linked original story she wrote for Juno News does say that True North obtained the PD “internal training materials materials delivered to the staff at Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation” … best wishes tracking down the source who presumably wishes to remain anonymous. It looks like the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation might be a good place to inquire regarding demands for accountability for this bigoted material. I find it hard to believe the executive of the school board had no idea this was taking place and perhaps that’s a leadership problem at Waterloo School Board and not my problem, as the author of this free unpaywalled article. Thanks for reading.
This 'harmful concept' of family by the Waterloo District School Board requires investigation and potential disciplinary action. Their 'Family' definition is disturbing if this article is accurate. If not, then these 'news' sites should be investigated.
Here is the definition of 'Family' an ancient term-
The term family generally refers to a group of individuals connected by blood, marriage, adoption, or close emotional ties who typically live together or maintain strong social and emotional bonds.
There are different ways to define family depending on the context:
1. Biological definition: A group consisting of parents and their children.
2. Legal definition: Individuals related by marriage, birth, or adoption as recognized by law.
3. Sociological definition: A social unit that provides emotional support, caregiving, and a sense of identity, which can include extended relatives or chosen family (e.g., close friends or partners).
In short, a family is a group of people who care for and support one another, often bound by kinship or long-term commitment.
For sure. Important to know the accuracy of what we post so perhaps yeah inquiring with the federation. Sometimes it is difficult to know the actual truth of what is being spewed- is it accurate as reported and/or are the counter denials accurate and truthful or naive. Nevertheless the concept of the negative family definition was disturbing. It is important to be aware of this concerning possibility if it is happening as reported.
If you remember the materials have Waterloo-Oxford on them, that’s an indication that the school board ultimately bears responsibility for the materials and hence the bigoted and disturbing view expressed. It’s everyone’s responsibility to read the story correctly, I did link the original piece so that readers could get the breaking original story for themselves. It’s ultimately the superintendent’s responsibility, it happened on his watch in his district.
Thanks for pointing out the discrepancy. I’ve corrected it.
You can see the blog post from the WRDSB themselves confirming the story and providing context. It’s above (or below?) in the comments here. Seems it’s real. Apparently there’s some ongoing drama or controversy about using family versus parent. I linked that tweet from the journalist who broke the story also, in the comments here.
I appreciate you pointing out the discrepancy and calling the superintendent yourself. It was a sloppy bit of work and I learned my lesson. I’ve asked Juno if they corroborated the story prior to publishing and I’ve asked the OSSTF And WODSS to comment on Xwitter and if I don’t get a response I’ll contact them privately via email next week. Thanks for your diligence. I learned a lesson. 😎🧠
Also as a follow up I called the Waterloo District School Board and the Superintendent of the Board said that in no way do they define or train their staff to define family the way this article depicts nor discourage the use of that word family because of a negative connotation. He said they only speak about the term family in a positive way.
Please provide further links to how this negative view by the Board came into play.
I provided the link to the breaking story from Juno News. They received the information from an anonymous source. Suggestion you ask them how they came on this information and why they say they disagree and yet this appears to be from a PD day.
Melanie Bennet of True North wrote the breaking story, the linked original story she wrote for Juno News does say that True North obtained the PD “internal training materials materials delivered to the staff at Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation” … best wishes tracking down the source who presumably wishes to remain anonymous. It looks like the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation might be a good place to inquire regarding demands for accountability for this bigoted material. I find it hard to believe the executive of the school board had no idea this was taking place and perhaps that’s a leadership problem at Waterloo School Board and not my problem, as the author of this free unpaywalled article. Thanks for reading.
Also the journalist reports this is part of an ongoing dispute or controversy in the board regarding the use of language such as family versus parent.
https://x.com/finkledusty/status/1931483606318186649?s=46&t=dqBN7hTzsCfZMrAlB2mc5A
The WRDSB confirmed the story.
https://www.wrdsb.ca/blog/2025/06/06/wrdsb-values-families-as-partners-in-students-education/