Rhode Island lawmakers are taking the ongoing fight against sexual harassment and assault to a new venue: school sexual education classes.
A bill before the General Assembly would encourage schools to "teach the law and meaning of consent" in high school.
"There continues to be a great deal of confusion about what consent is and the definitions of sexual assault," said Rep. Joseph Solomon, D-Warwick, who introduced the bill in the House. "Consent education goes far beyond the simplistic 'no means no.' It means teaching kids that a person agrees by choice and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice. If we wait until young people go to college, then we wait too long."
Solomon said he introduced the bill after a slew of constituents inspired by the "Me Too" movement and recent sex-offense allegations against powerful men brought the issue to his attention.
Rhode Island's current sex-education guidelines do not prevent public school teachers from discussing consent and Solomon's bill, based on legislation in Virginia and similar to a law in California, would not mandate it.
But in response to suggestions from fellow House members at a State House committee hearing on the bill Wednesday night, Solomon said he was open to making "age-appropriate" consent teachings a requirement and extending it all the way through kindergarten.
"Consent education, especially now, is incredibly important," Kirsten DiChiaparri, a Bristol resident and mother of two, told the committee in support of the bill. "I don't think anyone can object to the idea of everyone having an understanding of what it is to have respectful mutual relationships. And I can tell way too many stories already of friends of my children who have experienced inappropriate advances or text messages and social media."
Aela Mansman, 13, testified that teaching consent at an early age could prevent inappropriate behavior from grade-school students like some she had experienced in school.
No one testified against the bill at the hearing on Wednesday.
Providence Democrat and public school teacher Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell suggested the bill include a definition of consent.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines consent as "to give assent or approval."
Rhode Island criminal law does not define consent, but in criminal cases where it is at issue, judges sometimes instruct juries on its meaning.
Solomon provided this definition:
"Both people are clear about what is happening and what is about to happen next and are happy about it."
The bill would add language about teaching consent to a section of the law that makes teaching abstinence the preferred approach to preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease.
He said Wednesday that the consent language would not affect part of the law.
— panderson@providencejournal.com
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On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_