Current Events > Utah lawmakers nix idea requiring 'consent' as part of sex education

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https://www.ksl.com/article/50103830/utah-lawmakers-nix-idea-requiring-consent-as-part-of-sex-education

SALT LAKE CITY Legislation that would have required Utah's sex education curriculum to include instruction about consent including what does not constitute consent was defeated by the House Education Committee Monday by a vote of 7-4.

HB177, sponsored by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, also would have required instruction on coercion, sexual violence behavior deterrence, and sexual assault mitigation as part of sex education instruction for students in grades 7-12. Parents must opt-in for their child to participate in sex education classes.
"My motivation is not to get some liberal curriculum into the schools as many people have made that accusation, but rather to give kids information that they can use to protect themselves," Moss said.

Issues of consent are not exclusively sexual in nature, she said.
"It could be saying no to sending a photo of yourself, or no to your sending me a photo. Or it could be saying, 'No, I don't want to go to a party where there might be illegal activity,'" Moss said.

Some committee members argued that refusal skills are already part of Utah's health curriculum standards adopted by the Utah State Board of Education in 2019.
Some, like Rep. Lowry Snow, R-Santa Clara, said there were technical problems with the bill, explaining that consent is defined elsewhere in Utah laws and those laws are intended to protect children.

Alan Buys, a victim advocate who formerly worked at Utah State University, urged the committee to adopt the bill. Buys said some of the students he worked with disclosed to him that they had "done sexual things without getting consent and didn't have a clue" that they legally should.

"The misconception that we're having here is that there are the monster perpetrators, the ones that are are manipulative and vile, but there are also these unintended, frankly ignorant perpetrators who just need a little education to understand that they have to ask, 'Is it OK if I kiss you?' or 'Is it OK if I do X, Y or Z beforehand?'"
Teaching only refusal skills puts the responsibility on victims to say no, Buys said.

"We know that it's perpetrators who need the education because people who say no still get assaulted," he said.

Dr. Kellie Woodfield, an obstetrics-gynecology resident at the University of Utah, also spoke in support of the bill.

"When done correctly, consent instruction can reduce the incidence of sexual violence, not by magically convincing a generation that 'no means no,' but by dismantling the cultural conditions then actually underscore the sexual violence, including discriminatory attitudes, ignorance and gendered power differentials," Woodfield said, explaining that she was not representing the university.

But others like Deanna Holland said the teaching of refusal skills, now part of the state standards, "lets us teach children the necessary skills the good representative wants. I'm uncomfortable adding consent into our curriculum when our current curriculum already teaches these safety skills."

Moss disclosed that her three daughters were sexually abused by a relative during their childhood and it caused great distress in their family for years. She believes that her daughters, who have their own children in their teens and some in college, have done a better job of teaching their children about sex education and about consent than she did.

"I believe that parents are the primary educators of their children's sexual education but schools can open the door for conversation," said Moss.
A retired high school English teacher, Moss said she has spent nearly half of her life around teenagers and she is aware of anecdotes and government data that show "Utah teens continue to grapple with unhealthy and abusive dating relationships."

"Consent is not about engaging in sexual activity. Consent is agreeing to behaviors within one's personal boundaries and set comfort level. Teaching students about consent can help keep them safe from predators or sexual abuse, but it can also be about simpler things like whether they want to play a game or get a hug from a classmate," she said.

The panel also voted to hold HB177 at the committee level rather than return it to the House Rules Committee. Moss said she plans to continue to work on the legislation to attempt to address concerns raised by committee members.

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beauracratizing sex is the most murican thing imaginable

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wtf America?

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I'm not even American but seeing this result in Utah doesn't surprise me

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Do kids actually need to be instructed to *not* rape people? Some morals are pretty universal. Raping, murdering, stealing, etc..

kelemvor posted...

Do kids actually need to be instructed to *not* rape people? Some morals are pretty universal. Raping, murdering, stealing, etc..

Teaching kids consent is more about preventing them from getting abused.

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kelemvor posted...

Do kids actually need to be instructed to *not* rape people? Some morals are pretty universal. Raping, murdering, stealing, etc..

Men frequently hold beliefs about the appropriateness of behaviors that violate consent, and then react in an up-roar ("we can't do anything any more, can we?") when called out.

Seems like it's a good idea to make sure these things aren't implicitly socially sanctioned.

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Cowthief posted...

wtf America?

Utah doesn't deserve to count as america tbh
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This and that school allowing parents to opt their kids out of the Black History Month curriculum. Utah education on a roll.
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kelemvor posted...

Do kids actually need to be instructed to *not* rape people? Some morals are pretty universal. Raping, murdering, stealing, etc..

You have to teach goddamned grown ass soldiers what constitutes consent and what is and is not okay.

You think kids and teens, full of insanely powerful raging hormones instructing them to spread their seed, are going to just instinctively know this stuff?

You teach them young what does and doesn't constitute consent so they don't wind up going to far, breaking someone's trust, and then getting thrown in prison for a long time.

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Tmaster148 posted...

Parents must opt-in for their child to participate in sex education classes.
"My motivation is not to get some liberal curriculum into the schools as many people have made that accusation, but rather to give kids information that they can use to protect themselves," Moss said.

Bruh

So far Utah has made observing Black History Month optional in schools, and is doing the same to the idea of consent in sex.

I wonder what other 18th century shit they'll adopt.

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Hexenherz posted...

So far Utah has made observing Black History Month optional in schools, and is doing the same to the idea of consent in sex.

I wonder what other 18th century shit they'll adopt.

Well, isn't joseph smith from the 18th century? Or was it 19th? >_>
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Tmaster148 posted...

Teaching kids consent is more about preventing them from getting abused.

There is also this.

If you teach kids what constitutes consent, it can help them avoid giving signals that would "give the ok" to a predator adult (even though there is never an ok when it comes to anyone under the age of consent).

Its why we teach kids to report adults that touch them in their "no no square"

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Some committee members argued that refusal skills are already part of Utah's health curriculum standards adopted by the Utah State Board of Education in 2019.

Even if that is true, you can never drill it enough through a person's skull what does and doesn't constitute consent

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PBusted posted...

Bruh

To be clear since I'm not sure how you're taking that... that's the representative proposing the bill explaining that she's not doing so as part of some "liberal agenda". Not someone opposed saying "I don't want this liberal agenda in my schools".
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wackyteen posted...

Even if that is true, you can never drill it enough through a person's skull what does and doesn't constitute consent

All the hippies abandoned "question authority" upon becoming authority. Funny how that works.

If conservatives were convinced that it was liberal ideology not to walk off cliffs, they'd jump off in mass numbers to spite them.
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Questionmarktarius posted...

All the hippies abandoned "question authority" upon becoming authority. Funny how that works.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make?

I would really like to know the extent of these "refusal skills" that the board thinks are sufficient.

Because if this is a program that arose in the "stranger danger" era, then they are not sufficient.

I mean, would this new program have been proposed if they were?

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But others like Deanna Holland said the teaching of refusal skills, now part of the state standards, "lets us teach children the necessary skills the good representative wants. I'm uncomfortable adding consent into our curriculum when our current curriculum already teaches these safety skills."

That is the most Republican thing I have read in a long while. They are just setting people up to go to jail and get assaulted .

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Ruvan22 posted...

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make?

Most "consent" issues come from an authority figure doing naughty things to a subordinate. We don't really bother to teach kids (or adults) that this even is a consent issue.

Mizznox posted...

To be clear since I'm not sure how you're taking that... that's the representative proposing the bill explaining that she's not doing so as part of some "liberal agenda". Not someone opposed saying "I don't want this liberal agenda in my schools".

Oh, I meant that the fact that she has to clarify it's not a "liberal curriculum" due to getting accusations for it as if it was a bad thing is ridiculous.

kelemvor posted...

Do kids actually need to be instructed to *not* rape people? Some morals are pretty universal. Raping, murdering, stealing, etc..

My work had a yearly mandatory meeting telling us not to rape our co-workers, so yes kids definitely need instructions to not rape people.

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"The liberals want to teach children that men having sex with women is rape! Also, pleasure sex is immoral!"

*explodes*

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why is this not already included

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thronedfire2 posted...

why is this not already included

Because, sex-ed in conservative areas is typically the "organ recital" of boring anatomy, and then the boy and girls are sent to different classrooms to watch some educational film from the 50s.