YES and NO and MAYBE

Zara is confused. She wants to comfort Lilly after she hurts herself – but Lilly shouts ‘STOP!’ and pushes her away. What’s going on? Soon Zara is noticing the different ways that others say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to being touched. Zac uses his face and body to say ‘no’ to being punched, but Finn says ‘no’ with words. And Lilly teaches Zara that ‘maybe’ is not the same as ‘yes’! Zara soon learns that she needs to ask before touching Lilly, and Eric learns that some types of touch aren’t seen as friendly – even if it’s normal behaviour in his family. Understanding each other is soon helping the children to make stronger friendships. Consent education is now part of the Australian curriculum, and we can and should start very early. Even pre-schoolers can learn to read body language and to understand that ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘maybe’ are not negotiable when it comes to touching others. This book and the accompanying digital handbook will help parents and teachers to talk about consent with small children in the most fundamental, age-appropriate way.