Teaching of consent ‘patchy’

Fewer than half of secondary schools are using either of two Government-endorsed schemes created to help teach teens about healthy relationships and consent.

Last month, it was revealed fewer than one in four schools, or 24 per cent, were signed up to a programme called Mates And Dates, funded by ACC.

Now figures show that LovesMe-Not, a similar course set up by the Sophie Elliott Foundation together with police and the Ministry of Social Development, has been picked up by only 22 per cent of schools.

As of May this year, 83 schools had registered to use the programme, a one-day workshop for year 12 students to learn about healthy relationships.

In March, there was an outcry over the way consent is taught in secondary schools, after boys at St Patrick’s College Silverstream sexually harassed two teachers, and students at Wellington College posted about raping drunk women on what they thought was a private Facebook page.

The fact schools were not using a packaged programme dif not mean they weren’t teaching kids how to have healthy relationships, Secondary Principals’ Association president Michael Williams said.

‘‘All schools have quite comprehensive health education programmes, and they’re required to consult with the community over them every two years.’’

Sometimes internal programmes could be a lot better than what external agencies said.

Family Planning had courses it delivered in schools, and it helped train teachers in sexuality education as part of the national curriculum, chief executive Jackie Edmond said.

It had a specific toolkit for consent that was launched in 2015. That year, 129 copies of the kit were sent to secondary schools, 50 were delivered in 2016; so far this year, 14 high schools had asked for it.

But there needed to be a consistent approach for all schools, Edmond said.

‘‘It’s patchy .. I think schools have an awful lot on their plate, and it makes sense if we have a more consistent approach of programmes and resources that schools can draw on to make it as easy as we can for them.’’

Onslow College has used the Loves-Me-Not programme for six years, principal Peter Leggat said. Every year it was refined, and the students got a lot out of the day.

Scots College students were taught about relationships, consent, safe sex and more using the health curriculum for years 7 to 10. It also had a pastoral programme called Perform, which focused on building positive relationships of all types, and is used from years 7 to 13.

In March, the Education Review Office launched a review into how sexuality was taught.

Edmond expected it would deliver a similar result to one done a decade ago – that the teaching of sex education, including consent, needed to be more consistent. offered, Williams