Bill to force teaching on sexual consent
AS SEXUAL harassment allegations continue to dominate headlines, exposing scandals that have touched Hollywood stars, pop singers and gymnastics gold medallists, the issue has seeped into conversations among students in US schools.
“It’s in our world. We talk about it a lot,” said eighth-grader Maeve Sanford-Kelly. So she thought it was weird that they never talk about it in her health classes.
Her mother, Ariana Kelly, agreed with her. Together they came up with a way to change that – through a bill that would require public schools to provide ageappropriate instruction on the meaning of “consent” and respect for personal boundaries.
In a House committee last week in Annapolis, 13-year-old Maeve testified in support of the bill, which was approved by an education subcommittee.
“Why don’t our schools teach us that this is not how we treat people?” she asked. “We cannot spend one more day allowing people to grow up and continue this culture of predatory behaviour.”
In the past few years, amid reports of widespread sexual violence on college campuses and a still-growing #MeToo movement, state lawmakers and educators have grappled with how to shape a future generation that will not repeat the same mistakes.
Many say that waiting until freshman orientation sessions in college, when the topic of consent is increasingly taught, is too late to introduce such foundational concepts of respect and setting boundaries.
This year, at least two dozen states are considering legislation that would incorporate sexual violence prevention into middle and high school curriculums, or sooner.
Bills introduced in New Jersey, Missouri, Oklahoma and Michigan are among those that would require or allow teachers to address the issue of requesting and recognising consent before engaging in sexual activity.
In Maryland, a companion bill in the Senate was approved unanimously in committee last week and was expected to move to the Senate for a vote.
Advocates say teaching about consent from an early age – the idea that they have a right to consent or not, and an obligation to obtain consent – can help students learn to build healthy relationships and prevent sexual violence.
Many advocates say students should be taught the principle of affirmative consent, or “yes means yes”, for any kind of sexual activity. The approach, which is used as a legal standard on many college campuses, teaches that silence does not mean yes and challenges gender roles that presume men are sexually aggressive and women should be responsible for setting boundaries.
In Maryland, if the law is passed, schools would be required to introduce the concept of consent at least once in middle school and once in high school. Local school boards could decide how new curriculum requirements would be implemented in age-appropriate ways.
In many states, as in Maryland, young people are leading efforts to advocate for changes to the way their teachers and schools are addressing sexual violence.
Research shows that many children and teens experience sexual violence.
In a national survey, 42% of female rape survivors said they were under 18 when they were first raped, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Twenty-eight percent of male survivors said they were first raped when they were 10 or younger.
Sexual crimes or harassing behaviour often occur on school property. Twenty-one percent of middle school students reported that they experienced unwanted physical touching on school grounds, according to a 2014 study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In Annapolis last week, Maeve was joined by several other students to advocate for the bill.
One, a high school female rape victim in Silver Spring, said: “We need to be able to teach young children what can be right and what can’t be.” – Washington Post