But “that is not what consent means,” Driver said, and informing young people about sex education and consent is necessary to protect them. “When you don’t teach sex education, when you’re not teaching about consent, you actually are putting young people at harm – in harm’s way,” she said. In Utah, parents must opt in for their child to participate in sex education classes. The bill would have also mandated instruction on coercion, sexual violence behavior deterrence, and sexual assault mitigation as part of sex education instruction for students in grades seven to 12. Currently, Utah law mandates that abstinence-based sexual education be promoted as the most effective way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in health classes across the state.

Source: The Guardian February 11, 2021 09:56 UTC