Group agreement and self-care
10 minutes
Teaching tip: A group agreement must be established before any Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) program begins to ensure a safe learning environment. Read: Essential information: Establishing a group agreement for tips on how to create one and what to include.
- Revise the class group agreement.
- Remind students that throughout the lesson they can write any questions down and add them to the question box at the end of the lesson (if they do not wish to ask them during the lesson). See Essential information - Setting up a question box.
Trigger warning - Say:
"This lesson covers the topic of sexual consent and sexual assault. These topics can sometimes be difficult for people. Please let me know if you feel you need to take a break from the room.
Before we start, let's check that everyone knows where to go for help if you want to check anything that this lesson raises for you."
- Ask students:
Who are some trusted adults you can talk to?
(Possible answers: parents, grandparents, teacher, older siblings, doctor, other family members, etc)
Teaching tip: It is important not to tell students who their trusted adults are or should be. You can offer a list of suggestions of who they might be. For some students, some of the people you suggest, may not be people that are safe for them to talk to. Students should not be made to share their list of trusted adults publicly unless they wish to do so.
Who are some people at this school that you can talk to?
(Possible answers: class teacher, other teachers, school psychologist, community health nurse, youth workers, etc )
What services and online support is available?
(Possible answers: Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC), Kidshelpline, Headspace, GPs, Sexual Health Quarters, Beyond Blue, Lifeline, 1800 Respect)
What is consent?
15 minutes
- Ask for a volunteer to bring an item belonging to them (e.g. a pencil) to the front of the class to model the following examples of consent/not consent.
Person 1: "May I borrow your pencil please?" Person 2: "Yes" (hands pencil) Person 1: (takes pencil)
"This is clear, affirmative consent."
Person 1: "May I borrow your pencil please?" Person 2: (no answer) Person 1: (takes pencil)
"Even though, I asked politely, I did not get consent. The absence of a 'no' is not a 'yes'."
Person 1: "May I borrow your pencil please?" Person 2: "No, sorry." Person 1: "Awww, come on. I let you use my pen last week". Person 2: "Errr, hmmm, OK I guess."
"Is this consent?" (no, it has been coerced or pressured).
Person 1: "May I borrow your pencil please?" Person 2: (nods head, smiles and hands pencil)
"Is this consent?" (yes, non-verbal consent)
"What if they weren't smiling and nodding?" (unclear if consent has been given).
"How could we check to make sure we have consent?" (ask the person again, ask for clarification, not take the pencil until we are sure).
"What if they let me borrow their pencil yesterday?" (Not consent - consent has to be given on each occasion).
"What if I took the pencil and used it to scratch under my armpit?" (Not consent. It is unlikely the person understood what they were agreeing to).
"What if I borrow the pencil and then they change their mind and want the pencil back?" (consent has been removed and the pencil should be returned).
- Say:
"The same principles apply to consent in sexual situations. Consent must be certain, clear, informed, freely given, and it can be removed at any time. Consent is important for all people, of all sexualities and in all kinds of relationships. Consent is a fundamental part of respectful relationships. Now we are going to look at consent in more detail"
Optional activity: Video - Tea and consent
- Say:
"We are going to watch a 3 minute video that uses drinking tea as an analogy for sexual consent"
- Watch: Tea and consent (2min 50sec video)
- Ask:
What did you think about the video?
What were the key messages of the video?
(Possible answers: consent can be removed, you can't make someone consent, you can change your mind, it's ok to change your mind, unconscious people can't consent, consenting last week does not mean consenting this week)
What consent looks like, feels like, sounds like
10 minutes
- Divide class into groups of 4-6 using Grouping strategy: Birthday line up
- Ask:
How difficult was it to line up without talking?
How did you communicate your birthday to others?
(Using my fingers, wrote it down, pointed to a calendar /display in the room, etc)
Were there any miscommunications?
What would make it easier to check the non-verbal communication?
(Ask them, verbal communication, etc)
- Say:
"Communication is vital for sexual consent. Consent and communication between sexual partners is the foundation for respectful, safe, mutual sexual experiences. It is everyone’s responsibility to check that their sexual partners are enthusiastically consenting to any sexual activities. Let's explore some different ways that consent may be communicated."
- Use Teaching Strategy: Y chart to explore what consent looks like, feels like, sounds like.
Teaching tip: Depending on your classroom demographics, you may wish to have additional adults assisting with this activity or to do the activity as a whole class if you feel the class require closer guidance.
Possible answers:
Looks like | Feels like | Sounds like |
Kissing you back Touching you back 16 years and older Someone voluntarily taking their clothes off | Everyone involved wants to be there Pleasurable Not drunk or drugged Freely given (not pressured or coerced) Safe Them pulling you closer | Enthusiastic 'Yes!' "That feels good" "Keep going" "Sure" "Do it again" Clear! Continually checking in by asking: Asking 'Is this OK?', 'Does this feel good?' 'Would you like to try?' |
- Say:
"It is important to remember that consent is an ongoing conversation. Each of these answers are just examples of things that might help to determine if someone is consenting. It is important to keep checking in with a partner.
When it comes to consent, the absence of no does not mean a 'yes'. Uncertainty, hesitation, umming and ahhing are NOT signs of enthusiastic consent. It’s important to be aware of verbal or non-verbal signs from sexual partners.
Saying ‘Stop’, I’m not sure’, ‘Can we slow down?’ or changing the subject are all examples of how people might indicate they are not consenting. A person who is not consenting might give non-verbal signs instead of saying ‘no’, like not responding to touch, silence, turning away, pushing a partner away, crying or freezing.
Although we can communicate and consent non-verbally, the only way to be sure a partner consenting is to ask. And the best, most clear way to give enthusiastic consent is to say it - 'Yes!'
Without consent, sexual activity is sexual assault. Experiencing sexual assault can have significant impacts on a person’s physical and mental health throughout their lifetime. The harm caused by sexual assault impacts individuals, families and communities.
If you are not sure if your partner is consenting but you keep going anyway, it is not only not ok and harmful — it is against the law."
Sex and the law
10 minutes
- Look at the Youth Law Australia website and demonstrate how to navigate to the WA laws and the section on Sex and consent.
- Discuss:
What is legal age of consent in WA?
(In WA, the legal age of consent is 16. This means when you are 16 years or older, you can have sex with another person aged 16 or older as long as you are both freely consenting. However, it is a crime for a person who is caring fo you, supervising you or has authority over you (like a teacher, coach, boss) to have sex with you while you are between the ages of 16-18.)
What do we mean by 'sex'?
(According to the law, sexual intercourse means when a penis, finger, object or any part of a person is fully or partially inside another person's vagina or anus. Sexual intercourse also includes any kind of oral sex. A sexual act can include a lot of different sexual activities, not only sexual intercourse e.g., kissing, touching, mutual masturbation, making another person watch pornography, sending and receiving sexual pictures. Consent is required for any sexual act. There are a few different laws about sex and consent and different sexual crimes e.g., sexual assault, indecent assault)
Why are there laws around the age of consent in WA?
(The laws around consent are there to protect people from harm and abuse.)
Discussion can be extended to explore cultural expectations and understandings about teenage sexual relationships:
- How do the laws about consensual sex differ from the unwritten rules or expectations?
- Do the unwritten rules and expectations around teenage sexual relationships vary with age, e.g. would your parents have different ideas about these rules or expectations?
- Do these unwritten rules and expectations vary depending on where you are, e.g. at school, at a school dance, at a friend’s place, at the park?
- Do the laws about consensual sex vary with where you are?
- Where do these unwritten rules and expectations around teenage sexual relationships come from?
- Stress that regardless of age, if someone has not given consent to sexual activity and it has taken place, it is a crime.
Consent scenarios
15 minutes
Students apply their knowledge of sexual consent to scenarios.
- Provide each small group with a copy of the Teaching Resource: Consent scenarios student activity sheet and allocate each group a different scenario to work through.
- Ask students to read the scenario and associated questions they have been given. Ask the students to identify the key points, discuss whether the situation is consensual or not and provide reasons for their answers.
- Have each group share their scenario and findings with the whole class.
- Discuss questions or concerns and clarify any inconsistencies as they arise.
