Sex-Ed Should Teach Consent In Schools

Sex-ed should teach consent.

“ ‘There’s really no clear standard yet -- what we have is a lot of ambiguity on how these standards really work in the court of law,’ said John F. Banzhaf III, a professor at George Washington University Law School” (Medina 1). This is about the highly debated subject: teaching consent in schools. Consensual is involving or carried out by mutual consent. Consent is permission, approval, or agreement. This argument is about where consent is already taught and the results, developing habits that are carried into college, and whether or not it’s abstinence that should be taught. Sex-Ed should teach about consent.

Consent should be taught from an early age, first lightly, then more detailed. “The Netherlands made

headlines earlier this year for their comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, which starts in schools when kids are as young as four years old. The conversation begins with having crushes and giving consent to hugs and other forms of nonsexual intimacy. In later years, the curriculum introduces conversations about self-image and gender, finally arriving at conversations about sexual orientation and contraceptive options” (Suslovic 1). Consent should be taught because this seems to be working because “The world Bank reports that the 2013 teen birth rate in the Netherlands was close to one-seventh of the U.S. teen birth rate.” (Suslovic 1). Maybe if we started to teach consent, it would lower our teen birth rate. In fact, some schools in the United States are already teaching about consent.
California has schools teaching about consent.

“With gov. Jerry brown’s signature on the bill this month, California became the first state to require that all high school health education classes give lessons on affirmative consent, which includes explaining that someone who is drunk or asleep cannot grant consent” (Medina 1). Teaching about affirmative consent is important for young adults. They need to know what is consensual, and what is not. “ Kevin de leon, the California State Senate speaker pro tempore and lead sponsor of the high school legislation, said … ‘Sexual violence has always thrived in the gray areas of the law … What we want to create is a standard of behavior, a paradigm shift as much as a legal shift” (Medina 2). Creating this standard will be easier if it is taught to young adults who are just starting to experiment. “But among teenagers, who are only beginning to experiment with their sexuality, and have hazy ideas of their own boundaries, the talk tends to be about ‘hooking up’ and what the rules are. ‘kids are still establishing patterns of behavior, and they have a lot of specific concrete questions’ said Ms. Zaloom, who has written a curriculum for affirmative consent programs that is being used throughout the country” ( Medina 2-3). Teachers can answer these questions and clear up confusion, and set a standard about how consent works. If we do not teach them in High school they might carry these habits into

college.
Young Adults going to college don’t know exactly what consent is or means. An article from the Washington Post writes “Many students told Kaine [a reporter] that their high school sex education classes had developed into reproductive biology but had little to say about consent or relationships, leaving them unprepared to navigate college safely” (Brown 2) to be taken advantage of, and that goes for at any age. For example “Many activists see kindergarden to 12th grade (K-12) sex education as a missed opportunity to give young people the information they need not only to defend themselves but also to avoid hurting someone else” (Brown 1) and if this is not taught “College Freshmen arrive on campus with vastly different concepts of what constitutes consensual sex and gaps in their knowledge” (Brown 1), leaving room for misinterpretation of situations, that could lead to rape/sexual violence. “One survivor, a graduate of the University of nebraska at Omaha, said she was raped repeatedly in a long-term relationship but did not realize it because she had never learned the concept of consent. She believed that if her partner wanted sex, she had no choice but to comply. ‘I grew up in public schools. We very little to no sex education’ she said. ‘ I honestly believed --and, oh my god, I can’t believe this but i did - I honestly believed that you could hurt a guy if you said no.’ That is akin to the message Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va) heard from anti-sexual-violence activists he met at the university of Virginia following the publication of a now-discredited story in Rolling Stone magazine about alleged violent rape on that campus.” (Brown 2). This behavior can be prevented by teaching young adults what consent means and where/how it’s defined.
Some people may argue, it’s abstinence that should be taught “For years, health surveys have found hawaii youth are less likely to be sexually active than adolescents and teenagers nationwide, and some credit for that success must go to public school sex-ed programs that emphasize abstinence while also providing medically sound information for students who are sexually active or contemplate being so.” (Sex-ed Must Stress 1). But clearly they are not providing enough “medically sound information” considering “They were much less likely to use condoms, slightly less likely to use any form of birth control, and slightly more likely to be victims of sexual violence. Other studies highlight relatively high rates of teen pregnancy and chlamydia among Hawaii youth.” (Sex-Ed Must Stress 2). Teaching about consent and STD’s and protection could reduce the likelihood of sexual violence, teen pregnancy, and STD’s.
Sex-Ed should teach about consent to improve how consent is seen in college. Some schools are already teaching about consent to create a definite standard, while reducing the risk of sexual violence, unlike other states who still believe abstinence is the way to go. Even though they are more likely to not use any form a birth control and have the highest rates for teen pregnancy and chlamydia. Teaching about consent might reduce the risk of sexual violence and educate the youth for a better, safer future in sexual activities by setting a standard all over the nation.