Concern from Christian Schools Australia about explicit Instagram posts from consent educators

Christian school leaders have raised fears about children being taught by consent educators who promote topics such as “the joys of sex toys” and “sexual arousal from food”.

Christian school leaders are concerned about national mandatory consent education lessons offered by providers who promote pornography and explicit sexual material.

Instagram posts from well-known consent educators covering topics such as sex toys, dirty talk, the sexual arousal from food, hiring sex workers, using sex dolls and group sex have been uncovered by a leading Christian schools’ body.

Mark Spencer, director of public policy for Christian Schools Australia, which represents 72,000 students at 180 schools, said such posts revealed an approach that could undermine the teaching at faith-based schools.

The material comes from well-known consent and sex education providers such as Man Cave, Teach Us Consent and Consent Labs.

A post from Teach Us Consent about ‘the joy of sex toys’. Picture: Supplied

Posts from The Man Cave and The Pigeon King. Picture: Supplied

A post about ‘the sexual arousal from food’ on the Consent Labs page. Picture: Supplied

Mr Spencer said that while there was no place in Christian teaching for coercive or non-consensual sexual activity, schools should “undertake appropriate due diligence on external providers” of consent education.

“As Christian schools we want to ensure that education on sexuality reflects Christian teaching around appropriate sexual activity,” he said.

The Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 includes mandatory consent education and from 2023 schools may begin to offer age-appropriate consent and respectful relationship classes. Children in Foundation will learn about the personal and social skills needed to interact respectfully with others and by year five look at strategies to manage the changes associated with puberty. Older children learn about negotiating consent and strategies for managing their relationships as they change over time.

The move was prompted by a petition from Sydney woman Chanel Contos which led to thousands of students and past students divulging sexual assault and harassment perpetrated by their male peers.

Some states such as Victoria have already made consent and respectful relationships education mandatory.

A discussion of dildos on the Consent Labs page. Picture: Supplied

Tips about lube on the Consent Labs page. Picture: Supplied

Tips for ‘sexy time talk’ on the Consent Labs page. Picture: Supplied

A Consent Labs post suggests hiring a sex worker. Picture: Supplied

Daniel Principe, a youth advocate and educator with Collective Shout who has delivered sex education workshops in hundreds of schools, said there needed to be a “porn-critical framework” in such sessions.

“Porn undermines our efforts to teach respect and consent because it teaches the opposite,” he said.

“Without addressing respect and consent through a porn-critical lens, we will fail.”

Mr Principe said he was concerned that some of the presenters of the material “even share their own pornographic styled images on their social media”.

This isn’t going to empower them to become good young men and build respectful relationships,” he said.

Honorary Associate Professor Debbie Ollis from Deakin University, who helped design the new national curriculum, said the material was evidence-based, developmental and sequential.

“It involves the whole school and this means parents as well,” she said.

She said the social media posts Christian schools were concerned about did not reflect the content of the curriculum.

Associate Professor Ollis said the curriculum material was based around a “personal safety approach with an emphasis on help-seeking behaviour so children have the skills to seek help”.

“Rather than teaching pornography, we are teaching media literacy skills to help children make sense of what they see online,” she said.

“This is important as kids at nine are coming across pornography by accident.”

Man Cave, Teach Us Consent, which is a group founded by Ms Contos, and Consent Labs were contacted for comment.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the updated curriculum was signed off on April 1.

“It is up to States and Territories to determine how the curriculum is implemented in each jusridiction, but I would expect it to be evidence based and age appropriate,” he said.