'What exactly is consent? Why does it matter? How can you negotiate your place in the world while respecting other people’s boundaries, and have them respect yours?
'Can We Talk About Consent? breaks down the basics of how to have healthy relationships in every aspect of life for readers aged 14 years and older. Consent is a powerful word, but not everyone understands exactly what it means. This clearly written, stylishly illustrated guide explains clearly what consent means and why it matters—for all of us.
'With honest explanations by experienced sex and relationships educator Justin Hancock, children will learn how consent is a vital part of how we connect with ourselves and our self-esteem, the people close to us and the wider world. Readers will uncover how to develop and maintain relationships, how to manage and avoid negative relationships, and will learn more about equality and respect.
'Covers a broad range of topics, including: how we greet each other; how to choose things for ourselves; how we say no to things we don't want to do; communicating and respecting choices in sexual relationships; the factors that can affect a person's ability to choose; and how to empower other people by giving them consent.'
Consent is an incredibly important topic, and one that should be taught to all people, especially in schools where children and teens develop interpersonal skills that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, I can't remember consent ever really being talked about when I was in school. Yes, there was the basics like 'rape is bad', but that's really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to consent, and doesn't really cover how broad and important an issue it is. This is something that Can We Talk About Consent? is trying to address.
The book is aimed at the teen and young adult market, having been marked as suitable for 15+, and its written in such a way that it feels really easy to pick up and understand, and seems like the kind of book that would fit well in any classroom or school library.
Justin Hancock has tried to make the topic as easy to understand as he can, and one of the ways that's been done is to relate consent to everyday scenarios and situations that young people will recognise. Not only does this help to make consent easier to talk about, as it's often included in conversations about sex, but also illustrates how consent matters in situations that don't have anything to do with sex. There's examples in the book how things as simple as greeting people ties into consent, and how the choice of shaking someones hand, giving them a hug, or not touching them at all falls into the conversation about consent, and how simple everyday interactions can force people into scenarios that they don't feel comfortable in.
The book acknowledges these situations in a number of ways, and often shows readers 'should stories', showing how things should be, but how that doesn't always line up with peoples lived experiences. These are incredibly useful moments, and helps to break down what could be something of an intimidating subject.
One of the things about the book that doesn't quite work for me, however, was the illustrations that accompanied the text. Now, there was nothing wrong with the quality of the artwork, and it was very well done, but the bright. bold, and sometimes simplistic images sometimes made the book feel like it was being aimed at a much younger audience than teens. There were times where the images bordered of humerus, and whilst this might make some people feel more relaxed about the subject they did sometimes make me feel like not enough weight was being given over to what's an incredibly important issue. And sadly I can't help but feel that the illustrations will put adult readers off the book, an audience who probably never had consent covered with them when they were the age of the book's target audience, and who could really benefit from this book too.
Despite these few small issues I found the book to be incredibly well informed, and it make a big and sometimes intimidating topic easy to understand. Like I said before, I can easily see this book being used as a teaching resource, and I think that that's where it will excel for sure.
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