affirming ecosystems
CSE’s ‘natural habitat’ is often considered to be the classroom, but as our contributors show us, CSE also lives, breathes and thrives in habitats as disparate as neighbourhood parks, jobs-training centres, playgrounds and sports fields, law schools, family discussions, and digital spaces.
There are individuals, collectives and organisations that are doing their best to create an ecosystem that supports the education of children on gender, sexuality, health, consent, safety, relationships, self-esteem and confidence in themselves.
Lived experience cannot be overlooked. It is the ultimate teacher.
Young people make better choices when they understand consequences, boundaries and respect – not when they are kept in the dark.
Without explicit attention to desire, intimacy, and emotional negotiation, legal concepts remain abstract rather than practicable.
… spaces led by the desire to not just protect but also educate all who connect with children…
Children in sports develop an internal lens of how the body feels, an intimate understanding of their physical self and an ownership of their bodies.
CSE survives in information as well as in the values that carry it forward.