This week, a parent asks,

‘Does consent always have to be verbalised?’

What a great question this is.

Because words do indeed make things so much simpler!

Words are so much simpler than having to interpret body language, and whatever else.

Because all that stuff is HARD.

And you know what? It’s hard for adults, too.

Not just young people.

But here’s the thing.

When we think about consent, so often we get hung up on consent around intimacy and relationships.

But here’s the secret: consent is actually communication.

We’re constantly saying yes, no or maybe in our everyday life.

This is great news.

Because it means we can be practicing consent conversations all the time.

We can model consent for our kids.

And we can chat to them about what it feels like, to have our boundaries respected.

For example: there’s the ‘tickling game’.

If a kid says STOP TICKLING! and you stop straight away,

you can chat about that.

Or if your kid is bugging you to do something you don’t want to do,

you can chat about that, too.

And remember that we said, above, ^ that this stuff is hard for adults too? 

Well, you can even talk to your kid about that.

In fact it’s GOOD to talk about how hard it can be.

If you tell your kids ONLY that ‘no means no’ and things like that,

you’re leaving out quite an important bit -

which is how nuanced this stuff can be.

And that it can be hard to say things. And hard to listen.

And that it takes practice.

And that it’s hard for grown-ups, too.

But knowing consent is hard is ok!

We can learn how to do it.

Say it.

Feel it.

We have so much more to share with you on this brilliant topic.

And tools for you to use.

X Sarah