{"id":25953,"date":"2024-10-30T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=25953"},"modified":"2024-10-25T11:46:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T18:46:42","slug":"open-space-the-importance-of-consent-education-for-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2024\/10\/30\/open-space-the-importance-of-consent-education-for-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: The importance of consent education for youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Changing a society starts with education for young people. If we want to advocate for victims\u2019 rights we need to teach youth to respect women, to understand what enthusiastic consent means, and to better understand the complexities when it comes to consent and sex.<\/p>\n

Sex is one of the messiest things we do as people, but when I was in grade school the consent talk I got compared consent to tea. I\u2019m not kidding\u2014the entirety of my consent education was a three-minute video on when to not drink tea, comparing it to when to ask for consent for sex. Comparing consent to tea is not enough\u2014we need to realize how complex it is and give real-world scenarios so youth can truly understand what it means to consent.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This story originally appeared in our October 30, 2024 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the Canadian Women\u2019s Foundation, only 45 percent of people in Canada \u201cfully understand what it means to give consent to sexual activity.\u201d This is why it\u2019s essential to start with education and teaching young people to respect boundaries, reading peers\u2019 body language, and focusing on their tone of voice.<\/p>\n

We can implement different programs based on the grade of the youth, but to start with something as simple as respecting boundaries must be taught in depth in schools; teaching children how to express when they are hurt should also be taught. We should listen to kids and check in with them about how they are feeling. It\u2019s so often taught to suppress emotions and not feel sadness, anger, or hurt; however, we must challenge this way of thinking and allow youth to feel and talk about their emotions.<\/p>\n

Modelling consent would also be a great skill-based way to put consent into practice in the classroom. Learning to ask simple questions about what behaviour is okay, like \u201cWould you rather a hug or a handshake?\u201d is an interactive way for children to learn about what it means to ask for a classmate\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n

Educators must determine what their students already know about consent and break down barriers built by the lies we get told about consent and the students who just refuse to learn.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also essential that we emphasize the importance of talking to a trusted adult, and we must keep the conversation going. We must create a safe place for young people to talk about their concerns, voice their consent, and realize this is something they can freely talk about without judgment.<\/p>\n

Consent is a life skill that should be practiced long before we talk about sex and relationships. It\u2019s something that needs to be addressed in every stage of education, whether that\u2019s in elementary school talking about respecting boundaries and talking to trusted adults, or in college, where we must foster a safe environment for victims and allow them a space to talk freely.<\/p>\n

Consent can be withdrawn at any time, and it\u2019s an essential subject to fully understand and talk about, whether that\u2019s in a classroom or with your peers.<\/p>\n

The only way we\u2019re going to change people\u2019s views on what it means to consent is by keeping the conversation going.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changing a society starts with education for young people. If we want to advocate for victims\u2019 rights we need to teach youth to respect women, to understand what enthusiastic consent means, and to better understand the complexities when it comes to consent and sex. Sex is one of the messiest things we do as people, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,320],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-october-30-2024"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25953"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25954,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25953\/revisions\/25954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}