The Healthy Sex Talk: Teaching Kids Consent, Ages 1-21
March 20, 2013 by
the Editors
A list of parenting action
items, created in the hope that we can raise a generation of children
who have less rape and sexual assault in their lives.
—
The ongoing horror of rape in the news, from Penn State to the young
women raped and killed in India to Steubenville, has proven to be a
wake-up call for many parents. We always knew that rape was a problem,
but never before have we been so mobilized to create change.
As writers, educators, and advocates of sex-positivity and healthy
consent, the four of us have been inundated with requests from parents
for advice on how to help create a future with less rape and sexual
assault.
We believe parents can start educating children about consent and
empowerment as early as 1 year old and continuing into the college
years. It is our sincere hope that this education can help us raise
empowered young adults who have empathy for others and a clear
understanding of healthy consent.
We hope parents and educators find this list of action items and
teaching tools helpful, and that together we can help create a
generation of children who have less rape and sexual assault in their
lives.
There are three sections, based upon children’s ages,
preschool, grade school, and
teens and young adults.
Sincerely,
Julie Gills, Jamie Utt, Alyssa Royse and Joanna Schroeder
♦◊♦
For Very Young Children (ages 1-5):
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1. Teach children to ask permission before touching or embracing a playmate. Use langauge such as, “Sarah, let’s ask Joe if he would like to hug bye-bye.”
If Joe says “no” to this request, cheerfully tell your child, “That’s
okay, Sarah! Let’s wave bye-bye to Joe and blow him a kiss.”
2. Help create empathy within your child by
explaining how something they have done may have hurt someone. Use
language like, “I know you wanted that toy, but when you hit Mikey, it
hurt him and he felt very sad. And we don’t want Mikey to feel sad
because we hurt him.”
Encourage your child to imagine how he or she might feel if Mikey had
hit them, instead. This can be done with a loving tone and a big hug,
so the child doesn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed.
3. Teach kids to help others who may be in trouble. Talk to kids about helping other children*, and alerting trusted grown-ups when others need help.
Ask your child to watch interactions and notice what is happening.
Get them used to observing behavior and checking in on what they see.
Use the family pet as an example, “Oh, it looks like the kitty’s tail is stuck! We have to help her!!”
Praise your child for assisting others who need help, but remind them
that if a grown-up needs help with anything, that it is a grown-up’s
job to help. Praise your child for alerting you to people who are in
distress, so that the appropriate help can be provided.
4. Teach your kids that “no” and “stop” are important words
and should be honored. One way to explain this may be, “Sarah said
‘no’, and when we hear ‘no’ we always stop what we’re doing immediately.
No matter what.”
Also teach your child that his or her “no’s” are to be honored.
Explain that just like we always stop doing something when someone says
“no”, that our friends need to always stop when we say “no”, too. If a
friend doesn’t stop when we say “no,” then we need to think about
whether or not we feel good, and safe, playing with them. If not, it’s
okay to choose other friends.
If you feel you must intervene, do so. Be kind, and explain to the
other child how important “no” is. Your child will internalize how
important it is both for himself and others.
Allowing kids power in everyday choices helps grow self-esteem - Flickr/
Enid Yu
5. Encourage children to read facial expressions and other body language:
Scared, happy, sad, frustrated, angry and more. Charade-style guessing
games with expressions are a great way to teach children how to read
body language.
6. Never force a child to hug, touch or kiss anybody,
for any reason. If Grandma is demanding a kiss, and your child is
resistant, offer alternatives by saying something like, “Would you
rather give Grandma a high-five or blow her a kiss, maybe?”
You can always explain to Grandma, later, what you’re doing and why.
But don’t make a big deal out of it in front of your kid. If it’s a
problem for Grandma, so be it, your job now is doing what’s best for
your child and giving them the tools to be safe and happy, and help
others do the same.
7. Encourage children to wash their own genitals during bath time.
Of course parents have to help sometimes, but explaining to little Joe
that his penis is important and that he needs to take care of it is a
great way to help encourage body pride and a sense of ownership of his
or her own body.
Also, model consent by asking for permission to help wash your
child’s body. Keep it upbeat and always honor the child’s request to not
be touched.
“Can I wash your back now? How about your feet? How about your
bottom?” If the child says “no” then hand them the washcloth and say,
“Cool! Your booty needs a wash. Go for it.”
8. Give children the opportunity to say yes or no in
everyday choices, too. Let them choose clothing and have a say in what
they wear, what they play, or how they do their hair. Obviously, there
are times when you have to step in (dead of winter when your child wants
to wear a sundress would be one of those times!), but help them
understand that you heard his or her voice and that it mattered to you,
but that you want to keep them safe and healthy.
9. Allow children to talk about their body in any
way they want, without shame. Teach them the correct words for their
genitals, and make yourself a safe place for talking about bodies and
sex.
Say, “I’m so glad you asked me that!” If you don’t know how to answer
their questions the right way just then, say, “I’m glad you’re asking
me about this, but I want to look into it. Can we talk about it after
dinner?” and make sure you follow up with them when you say you will.
If your first instinct is to shush them or act ashamed, then practice
it alone or with a partner. The more you practice, the easier it will
be.
10. Talk about “gut feelings” or instincts.
Sometimes things make us feel weird, or scared, or yucky and we don’t
know why. Ask your child if that has ever happened with them and listen
quietly as they explain.
Teach them that this “belly voice” is sometimes correct, and that if
they ever have a gut feeling that is confusing, they can always come to
you for help in sorting through their feelings and making decisions. And
remind them that no one has the right to touch them if they don’t want
it.
11. “Use your words.” Don’t answer and respond to temper tantrums. Ask your child to use words, even just simple words, to tell you what’s going on.
♦◊♦
Guidelines For Older Children (Ages 5-12)
Teaching kids to respect one another’s space, from even a very young age, helps grow empathy.
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1. Teach kids that the way their bodies are changing is great,
but can sometimes be confusing. The way you talk about these
changes—whether it’s loose teeth or pimples and pubic hair—will show
your willingness to talk about other sensitive subjects.
Be scientific, direct, and answer any questions your child may have,
without shame or embarrassment. Again, if your first instinct is to
shush them because you are embarrassed, practice until you can act like
it’s no big deal with your kid.
2. Encourage them to talk about what feels good and what doesn’t.
Do you like to be tickled? Do you like to be dizzy? What else? What
doesn’t feel good? Being sick, maybe? Or when another kid hurts you?
Leave space for your child to talk about anything else that comes to
mind.
3.
Remind your child that everything they’re going through is natural, growing up happens to all of us.
4. Teach kids how to use safewords during play, and help them negotiate a safeword to use with their friends.
This is necessary because many kids like to disappear deep into their
pretend worlds together, such as playing war games where someone gets
captured, or putting on a stage play where characters may be arguing.
At this age, saying “no” may be part of the play, so they need to
have one word that will stop all activity. Maybe it’s a silly one like
“Peanut Butter” or a serious one like, “I really mean it!” Whatever
works for all of them is good.
5.
Teach kids to stop their play
every once in a while to check in with one another. Teach them to take a
T.O. (time out) every so often, to make sure everyone’s feeling okay.
6. Encourage kids to watch each others’ facial expressions during play to be sure everyone’s happy and on the same page.
7. Help kids interpret what they see on the playground
and with friends. Ask what they could do or could have done differently
to help. Play a “rewind” game, if they come home and tell you about
seeing bullying.
“You told me a really hard story about your friend being hit. I know
you were scared to step in. If we were to rewind the tape, what do you
think you could do to help next time if you see it happen?” Improvise
everything from turning into a superhero to getting a teacher.
Give them big props for talking to you about tough subjects.
8. Don’t tease kids for their boy-girl friendships, or for having crushes.
Whatever they feel is okay. If their friendship with someone else seems
like a crush, don’t mention it. You can ask them open questions like,
“How is your friendship with Sarah going?” and be prepared to talk—or
not talk—about it.
9. Teach children that their behaviors affect others.
You can do this in simple ways, anywhere. Ask them to observe how
people respond when other people make noise or litter. Ask them what
they think will happen as a result. Will someone else have to clean up
the litter? Will someone be scared? Explain to kids how the choices they
make affect others and talk about when are good times to be loud, and
what are good spaces to be messy.
10.
Teach kids to look for opportunities to help.
Can they pick up the litter? Can they be more quiet so as not to
interrupt someone’s reading on the bus? Can they offer to help carry
something or hold a door open? All of this teaches kids that they have a
role to play in helping ease both proverbial and literal loads.
♦◊♦
Guidelines for Teens and Young Adults
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1. Education about “good touch/bad touch” remains crucial,
particularly in middle school. This is an age where various “touch
games” emerge: butt-slapping, boys hitting one another in the genitals
and pinching each other’s nipples to cause pain. When kids talk about
these games, a trend emerges where boys explain that they think the
girls like it, but the girls explain that they do not.
We must get kids talking about the ways in which these games impact
other people. They will try to write it off, but it’s important to
encourage them to talk it through, and ask them how they would feel if
someone hit them in that way, or did something that made them feel
uncomfortable or violated.
When you see it happen, nip it in the bud. This isn’t “boys being boys”, this is harassment, and sometimes assault.
2. Build teens’ self esteem. In middle school, bullying shifts to specifically target identity, and self-esteem starts to plummet around age 13. By age 17,
78% of girls report hating their bodies.
We tend to build up our smaller kids by telling them how great they
are. For some reason, we stop telling kids all the wonderful aspects of
who they are when they reach middle school. But this actually a
very crucial time
to be building up our kids’ self-esteem, and not just about beauty.
Remark to them regularly about their talents, their skills, their
kindness, as well as their appearance.
Even if they shrug you off with a, “Dad! I know!” it’s always good to hear the things that make you great.
3. Continue having “sex talks” with middle schoolers,
but start incorporating information about consent. We’re often good at
talking about waiting until marriage to have sex, or about
sexually-transmitted infections, or about practicing safer sex. But we
don’t usually talk about consent. By middle school, it’s time to start.
Ask questions like, “How do you know whether your partner is ready to
kiss you?” and “How do you think you can tell if a girl (or boy) is
interested in you?”
This is a great time to explain enthusiastic consent. About asking
permission to kiss or touch a partner. Explain that only “yes” means
“yes”. Don’t wait for your partner to say “no” to look for consent.
Educating our middle schoolers about consent means we don’t have to
re-educate them later and break bad habits, perhaps after somebody’s
been hurt.
4. Nip “locker room talk” in the bud. Middle school
is the age where sex-talk begins in gender-segregated environments, like
locker rooms and sleep overs. Their crushes and desire are normal and
healthy. But as parents and educators, we need to do more than just stop
kids from talking about other kids like they’re objects. We also need
to model how to talk about our crushes as whole people.
If you overhear a kid say, “She’s a hot piece of ass” you could say,
“Hey, I think she’s more than just an ass!” You can keep it jokey, and
they’ll roll their eyes at you, but it sinks in. They need a model for
grown-ups who are doing things right. Even saying something like, “It’s
also cool that she (or he) is so awesome at tennis, isn’t it?”
5. Explain that part of growing up is having changing hormones,
and that hormones sometimes make it hard to think clearly. Sometimes
that means our desire feels overwhelming, or that we’re angry, confused
or sad. It’s common, and perfectly okay, to be overwhelmed or confused
by these new feelings.
Tell your kids that no matter what they’re feeling, they can talk to
you about it. But their feelings, desires and needs are no one’s
responsibility but their own. They still need to practice kindness and
respect for everyone around them.
6. Mentor teenage and college-aged boys and young men about what masculinity
is. Men
need to talk to boys about what’s good about masculinity. Ask what
hasn’t been so good about our culture of masculinity in the past. How
can we build a more inclusive form of masculinity that embraces all
types of guys: from jocks to theater kids to queer folks to everyday
you-and-me? These conversations can encourage a non-violent form of
masculinity for the future.
Boys need to start talking about building a healthy masculinity
starting in middle school and continue through college, because
transforming masculinity is vital to transforming rape culture.
7. Talk honestly with kids about partying. Make it
clear that you don’t want them drinking or using drugs, but that you
know kids party and you want your kids to be informed. Ask them
questions about how they are going to keep themselves and others safe
when they’re drinking. Questions such as:
- How will you know when you’ve had too much to drink?
- How will you handle it if your driver has had too much to drink? (Make clear that your child can
always call you to come get him or her if needed).
- How will you know if your drinking or drug use has reached a dangerous level, or crossed into addiction?
- How does your behavior change when you’ve had too much to drink?
How can you protect others from yourself in that situation if, perhaps,
you become an angry drunk or start violating people’s space or safety?
- How will you know whether it’s okay to kiss someone, touch someone,
or have sex with someone when you’ve had a lot to drink? Explain that
decisions sometimes become cloudy, and signals become unclear when we
are impaired. How will you be sure that you are reading the other
person’s signals accurately? Suggest that they always ask for permission
to touch or kiss another person, especially when there’s drinking
involved.
- Although it should be obvious, explain that a person who is drunk,
high or otherwise impaired should not be touched, harassed or sexually
assaulted. Teach your children to stand up for, and seek help for, a
fellow partygoer who has had to much too drink.
- Be careful about the language you use with your kids about partying. The responsibility is
never on the victim to have prevented his or her assault. It is
always on the perpetrator to make the right decision and not harm anyone.
8. Keep talking about sex and consent with teens as they start having serious relationships.
Yeah, they’ll tell you they know it all, but continuing the
conversation about healthy consent, respecting our partners, and healthy
sexuality shows them how important these themes are to you. It also
normalizes talking about consent, so talking openly and respectfully
with partners becomes second nature to teens.
9. Finally,
teens are thirsty for more information about sexual assault, consent, and healthy sexuality.
They want to learn, and they will find a way to get information about
sex. If you are the one providing that information—lovingly, honestly
and consistently—they will carry that information out into the world
with them.
Having good information encourages kids to be UPstanders, not
BYstanders. Not only does the world need more Upstanders, but kids
really want to be a force for good. And we can give them the tools to do
so.
