How to Have Conversations About Consent with Your Children

Consent and respectful relationships education became mandatory across Australia, for the first time, in 2023. This means hundreds of thousands of parents, teachers and students are being confronted with challenging new concepts about sex, power, relationships, the digital world, and their own beliefs about gender and sexualities. Parents especially will need help understanding what lessons this new education will provide for their children, and more importantly, why we need to teach these lessons.

This will be the first Australian book about teaching consent and respectful relationships education from the point of view of people who have taught those classes. Jane Gilmore and Deanne Carson have heard, first-hand, the stories from children and teens about what happens when they are not taught about consent and seen the pressure that teachers and parents are under as they try to keep up with young people's desperate need for quality, comprehensive, long-term education on consent and respect. They know how hilarious, painful, awe-inspiring, and frightening this education can be.

The real solution is information. Knowledge is how we counter fear. Storytelling is how we share knowledge.

Blending expertise, hilarious anecdotes and poignant stories, this window into what is being taught in classrooms and what's going down in schoolyards is a must read for all parents and teachers who want to keep these important conversations going at home.