This teacher has explained consent to children in the simplest way, and we love it.

Consent is really, really easy to understand.

It’s so easy, in fact, that one US teacher is teaching her third grade class all about it. And they get it.

Liz Kleinrock is a third grade teacher at Citizens of the World Charter School in Los Angeles. Prompted by Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court, she wanted to teach her students about consent.

A chart she posted on Instagram gives a straightforward look at exactly what consent means. While we generally think of consent in the context of sex, it’s also applicable to everyday actions.

 

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Everything about Kavanaugh in the news has been making me HEATED. So whenever I get frustrated about the state of our country, it inspires me to proactively teach my kids to DO BETTER. Today was all about CONSENT. We even explored the grey areas, like if someone says “yes” but their tone and body language really says “no.” Role playing is a great way to reinforce these skills, but they MUST be taught explicitly!

A post shared by Liz Kleinrock (@teachandtransform) on Sep 26, 2018 at 3:02pm PDT

The chart shows various interactions where consent may be necessary, such as giving hugs and borrowing things, and the language people can use. Kleinrock notes that consent sounds “positive and enthusiastic” and also provides examples of what people can say if they don’t want to give consent.

She gave the lessons using scenarios that eight and nine year olds can understand, such as whether they want a high five in the morning or if they should touch someone to get their attention.

In additional Instagram posts, Kleinrock shared work from her students who were asked to write about why consent was important.

 

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More evidence that my 8-9 year old students are smarter and have more emotional intelligence than half of congress.

A post shared by Liz Kleinrock (@teachandtransform) on Sep 27, 2018 at 6:28pm PDT

She told Buzzfeed News that parents, caregivers and other teachers have reached out to her to find out more about the lessons and ask if she can pass them on.

Kleinrock hopes that by teaching her students this very important lesson now, they’ll be ready to talk about and understand sexual consent when they’re older.

“Way down the road, middle school, high school, can you really begin to learn consent within relationships if you can’t learn to keep your hands to yourself?” she said.