Incensed at a new sex education curriculum they say will be too graphic for young sensibilities, parents of thousands of GTA elementary students kept their children home from school Monday in protest, with a thousand taking placards and chants of “We Say No!” to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s riding office.

In Toronto, almost 35,000 students were absent, a leap of 144 per cent over the previous Monday. In York Region some 2,000 elementary students stayed home, including 70 per cent of students at Teston Village Public School and 40 per cent at Markham Gateway Public School. In Peel Region, 1,170 students stayed home, with some schools missing up to 250 students.

Hardest hit was Toronto’s Thorncliffe Park Public School, where only about 130 children showed up of the usual 1,350 — roughly 90 per cent staying away. At the all-kindergarten school next door, only 90 children showed up of 600, even though the updated health curriculum doesn’t kick in until Grade 1. At nearby Valley Park Middle School, some 590 students were absent out of 950.

“In Grade 1, they should be learning about the ABCs, not sex,” said Thorncliffe Park parent Lubna Awah, who kept her kindergarten son home. “Boys are boys and girls are girls — why should they learn about a third (gender) in Grade 1?” asked Awah, expressing fears the new curriculum will encourage young children to question their gender identity.