The Importance of Consent Education, and How it Could Save Lives
By: Vivi Mccallum
Tags: Consent, Sexual Assault, Rape, Change

Every 73 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted in the United States (RAINN). It takes more time to do basic things like brush your teeth or toast a piece of bread than it does for someone to be sexually assaulted. It’s heartbreaking to see statistics like these, because as much as they shock us, they represent our grim reality. Americans have devastatingly normalized rape and sexual assault by our own negligence. Education is the foundation for change, and without consent education there can be no change. Consent education is teaching boys, and girls, what it means to respect others’ bodies and wishes. The lack of proper consent education in the United States is abhorrent, and it is one of the many factors that perpetuates rape/sexual assault culture. This is one of the most pressing issues in the U.S right now, and the government has turned a blind eye. Consent education is the necessary pathway we must take to create change. Thorough consent education is crucial to preventing the perpetuation of sexual assault and rape.

It can be difficult for some people to understand the severity of rape or sexual assault until they hear about it or, sadly enough, experience it. This is the tragic story of Hannah Price, a Bristol student, who has used her trauma to help others. Price starts by explaining “I don’t remember being taught about consent at school, other than the simple phrase ‘no means no,’”. It was her very first social at university, and she had just finished an enjoyable night out with her friends. Hannah decided to walk home, and was quickly joined by a stranger who claimed he was a student as well. He offered to walk her home. He seemed good natured, so she agreed. Once they reached her house, he asked if he could come inside for a glass of water as he “wasn’t feeling well.” Hannah recognized this as a red flag, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him in. After they got to her dorm, his entire character instantaneously changed and he became very aggressive. He quickly asked to go to the bedroom with her. Hannah immediately said no, but he was relentless despite her multiple attempts to get him out of her dorm. He continued to viciously gaslight her and say things like “Why would you let me in if you didn’t want this to happen?”, cussing at her constantly. The more times Hannah said no, the more forceful and belligerent he became. It soon became clear that his intentions had never been to walk her home safely. He pushed her down and ripped off her tights as he began to cruelly rape her, while she laid powerless. Hastily after, he left without uttering another word to Hannah. The following days, Hannah was filled with guilt and disgust, even though she was aware it was never her fault. Hannah felt unable to tell the authorities because she firmly believed that they would never trust her story. She had been drinking, she let him into her house, and she never physically fought back. She was “asking for it”. This must have been her fault, right? Wrong. Hannah’s mental health completely spiraled, and she experienced some of the darkest times of her life. While her rapist walked free, she remained isolated, despondent, and even suicidal. That was in 2015. Now in 2020, Hannah is finally able to acknowledge to herself, and to others, that she was raped. Hannah has even started a student journalist group called “Revolt Against Rape” to advocate for others who have faced struggles like her own. This story is extremely upsetting and anger-provoking, but it didn’t have to be. There’s a chance Hannah would’ve never had such a traumatic experience if her rapist had been taught better. If he had been taught proper consent education, he would’ve known that it was never his place to be in Hannah’s dorm. He would’ve known that she was intoxicated and that he needed to leave her alone. He would’ve known that when she asked him to leave, she meant it. He would’ve known to take no for an answer. Most importantly, he would’ve known not to rape her. I do not sympathize with this rapist, nor do I sympathize with any rapist because they should’ve known how to be a decent human being . However, if we can instill these basic ideas of respect and consent into the minds of young people, we can help change the course of stories like Hannah’s, and hopefully prevent them from happening to others.

Rape and sexual assault are irreversible, but school curriculums aren’t. The mental effect that rape and sexual assault have on a person is hard to fathom, but here is just an idea of how seriously people are harmed by it. In 2019, over 1.5 million women were raped by an intimate partner (LegalJobSite). An estimated 30% of women who are raped attempt suicide (RAINN). If we do some eye opening math, that would mean that around 450,000 women either considered or attempted suicide after sexual violence. According to the Department of Justice, each day approximately 70 women commit suicide following an act of sexual violence (LegalJobSite). These aren’t just statistics, they’re people. Seventy different women, everyday. That’s seventy mothers, wives, sisters, friends, and so much more. If hearing these statistics doesn’t break your heart, I urge you to go back, and reread them. The way that sexual violence changes someones life is world shattering. We could literally save lives by creating change. There are 37 US states that give parents the option to opt their students out of consent education (Guttmacher Institute). As much as it is important to respect a parent’s wish, consent education is critical to a child’s understanding of respect. It is necessary, to shape our future generations to choose to end sexual violence. We need to reconsider what we are allowing these parents to deprive their child of. What is being gained from miseducating a child on the basics of sexual respect and consent? There is an easy pathway to teaching consent within our schools, starting in 5th grade. In 5th grade, students should be taught the concept of consent as a whole, not just in relation to sex. At this age, students are already being taught about puberty, and how reproduction works, so the idea of consent should be introduced. In 7th grade, students are taught about STDs, as well as how to be sexually safe. This is when consent education needs to be fully taught. Students should know more than Hannah Price’s education of “No means No”. Consent is so much more than just that. Finally, in 10th grade, when some students are beginning to be sexually active, consent education should be hammered home. Videos of stories like Hannah’s should be shown, and it should have an entire unit, not just one days worth of generic phrases. The benefits to a good consent education are innumerous, but most crucially, a proper consent education will shift the cycle of rape culture in America towards its demise. As the famous James Baldwin once argued, education is the foundation for change. If we rewrite the consent education curriculum, we’ll be re-writing the future of so many men and women in America.

Some claim that consent education is too dark for young students, there are far more pressing issues to educate students on, and the consent education we have implemented is good enough. This statement is invalid, for a few reasons. Students should be taught consent education in a gradual way, that gets more serious as the child progresses. In 5th grade, when children are taught what sex is, they should be old enough to have a basic grasp on consent. Consent is a useful life trait, beyond sex, as it is always necessary to respect others. If your child is taught how to put on condoms in 7th grade, why can’t they be taught what rape is? While rape is a sensitive topic, its affecting a huge number of men and women across the country. 60% of students have had sex by the time they graduate (Fatherly). In highschool, most students are becoming sexually active, and this is when they are able to re-learn consent, and apply it. Sex is something many highschoolers are introduced to, and valid consent teachings set them up for a lifetime of respect and tolerance. In turn, that makes this a crucial issue. I can personally say that I was never given a consent education that lasted longer than an hour. I’m lucky enough to have a family that taught me what consent is, but there are so many students who can’t say the same. “In a survey of more than 3,000 highschool students and young adults nationwide, the overwhelming majority reported they had never been taught how to avoid sexually harassing others or to cope with being groped, catcalled, or bullied in sexual ways,” (ED weekly). All of these are important aspects to consent education, and this statistic further proves how deficient the current education we have is. Our current consent education is poor, and fixing it is vital to ending sexual violence. Students wil be taught consent at the appropriate ages, and the throurough understanding of consent will help end the horrible perpetuation of rape culture in the United States.

We’ve now seen how immediate change to the sexual education curriculum needs to come. So many women, like Hannah Price have had their lives altered by those ignorant to the importance of consent. How would you have felt if instead of Hannah, it had been your sister, your mom, your friend, or even you? Rape and sexual assault have a massive negative impact on this country, and they aren’t something to be overlooked. With a proper consent education, we could change the world. We could save so many people’s lives, just by reinstating a more thorough curriculum. By teaching students from a young age the importance of consent, we can influence generational understandings of respect and permission. So, what are we waiting for?

Works Cited- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g38lYiDPRSpeK7lN-nzEwL2_9deOYTuDZFVNhVgUFTs/edit?usp=sharing

End Rape Culture! Education is Liberation.