The Importance of Teaching our Students about Consent
The teenage years are a time for exploration and discovery and is also a time for increased risky behaviour. However, it is also a time when teenagers need to take increased responsibility for their actions, being clear about their own moral code and about what the law states is appropriate conduct for respectful relationships.
With sexual assault between minors continuing to be a major concern, more needs to be done to ensure our young people are not only educated, but also better equipped to navigate the challenging situations in which many of them may find themselves.
While it would be easy to fall into despondency, I am buoyed by examples of young women and men standing up for a better society in which all people, regardless of gender, are treated equally and can feel safe at work, at school and in their recreation time.
Following the recent petition, established by Sydney school girl Chanel Contos, that collected over 3000 testimonies by young women of sexual assault, I was impressed by the Head Prefect of the Cranbrook School in New South Wales, Asher Learmonth, who bravely took a stand recently to talk about the current culture of masculinity and “endemic issue of sexual assault”. We often talk about the ‘sisterhood’ and the ‘brotherhood’ but, when we find ‘sisters’ and ‘brothers’ standing alongside each other on important issues, I believe we will start to see significant change.
Of particular significance in educating our young people about respectful relationships is the notion of ‘consent’. According to the The Australian Law Reform Commission, consent is described as a "free and voluntary agreement" between the participants. On the surface it would seem that this would be a simple benchmark against which to measure whether consent was given and received. However, when considering sexual encounters between young people and their peers, the issue becomes far more complex.
The teenage years are a time when young people start to explore their sexuality. It is also a time when many young people are provided with greater independence to be at parties or places with minimal or no adult supervision. Regardless of how it happens and between whom it happens, sometimes young people can find themselves in situations in which they want to say ‘No’ to a sexual encounter but, for a range of reasons either can’t or don’t say ‘No’. For example, the young person may be scared of not being believed or of becoming outcast from a group, the young person may have been convinced that the sexual act was not really a sexual act, or the young person cannot physically remove themselves from the situation. It is important for us to remember though that just because a person doesn’t say “No” doesn’t mean the person gave their consent.
Earlier this year I was thrilled to see Grace Tame named 2021 Australian of the Year. Despite the ongoing trauma of being a childhood sexual assault victim, through her advocacy, she successfully overturned an archaic Tasmanian law that prevented her and other sexual assault victims from speaking publicly about their assault experiences.
Since receiving her award, Grace has used her platform to remind us as a society, not to be complacent or to stay silent, but to keep talking about how to reduce sexual assaults wherever, whenever and however we can. At Ivanhoe Girls’ we already have a robust personal education and health program from Kinder to Year 12; however, we have heeded the call and are currently undertaking a full review of our program to ensure that the concepts of consent are clearly and explicitly covered in an age-appropriate way across all year levels.
While sexual assault remains an imbedded cultural issue it will take a concerted, coordinated and collective approach at a grass roots level to address it. The Health and Physical Education section of the Australian Curriculum requires schools to provide students with clear knowledge and understanding of how to manage respectful relationships and includes important issues such as strategies for dealing with relationships when there is an imbalance of power. However, an emphasis on the important issue of understanding what the word ‘consent’ means, seems largely understated, despite it being at the centre of so many sexual assaults in Australia.
A range of new resources are shortly to be distributed to all Australian schools to help students better understand the meaning of consent. Education for our youngest students commonly begins with the concepts of them having control over their own body. The following short video entitled "Teaching kids how to seek consent, not just the ability to say ‘No’", clearly shows how even our youngest students can commence their understanding of consent from as early as three and four years old.
While it is entirely fair to say that more emphasis and explicit teaching should take place for all students from their earliest years at school (as is age and stage appropriate), the challenge of preventing sexual assault is still a community and family challenge, not just a school challenge.
As an educator I have seen at close hand the transformation of young people from small children through to teenagers and then onto emerging adults. The natural process of exploring self-identity and developing self-confidence is challenging enough without the added influence of pervasive and easily accessable pornography, the platform of social media to persuade, entice and shame victims, sexual activity being seen as a ‘right of passage’ in some schools, hyper-masculinity and the poor role modelling of significant adult sectors of society such as the current issues being highlighted at Parliament House in Canberra.
Hundreds of years of culturally accepted stereotypical gender norms will not change overnight, but with all change, it must start somewhere. Let this be the ‘somewhere’ and the ‘sometime’. Let this be the time that increased awareness and enhanced education about consent is provided to all Australian children so they are forewarned and forearmed to make wise decisions for themselves that start with understanding and consent.
If you or anyone you know needs support around the issues discussed in this article please contact:
- Kids Helpline or phone 1800551800
- Lifeline or phone 131114
- Beyond Blue or phone 1300 224 636
- Domestic Violence Line 1800 65 64 63
- 1800-RESPECT phone 1800 737 732
Dr Deborah Priest
Principal
Resources:
- Talking Sexual Health - A Parent’s Guide
- Consent isn't as simple as 'no means no'. Here's what you need to know
- Michael Carr-Gregg: Conversations about Consent
- The Conversation: Not As Simple As No Means No
References:
- Belinda Strayhorn:
https://citynews.com.au/ - Brandon Jack:
https://www.smh.com.au/education