Review of ‘Welcome to Consent’

Title: ‘Welcome to Consent’
Author: Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang
Publisher: Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing
Age Range: 10+ years old
Themes: Personal boundaries, sex, interpreting signals, speaking up and being firm, guarding boundaries, respect, guarding values.

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This title has been ever popular since publication, and desevedly so. The lovely Sophie Fu has reviewed it for Children’s Books Daily and couldn’t agree with her more on the fact that this is a book for EVERYONE. Essential reading.

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‘Welcome to Consent’ was written collaboratively by Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang. It is a gem of a book, full of really helpful ideas and advice on ways to handle tricky situations where consent applies. As Stynes and Kang report ‘consent is a concept EVERYONE needs to understand. It applies to situations that occur every day, to everyone’.

The information contained in this book covers different ways consent works in daily life, how it applies and how it can easily be misconstrued in hectic times involving alcohol, sharing information and photos online, kissing and sex.

Trust your instincts.
Respect your body.
Love and respect the bodies of others.

Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang

A valuable resource

This book is bursting with brilliant helpful tips and tricks to apply for tweens, teens and those of us who are young at heart and wanting to help! Let’s face it adults… tweens and teenagers these days are growing up in confronting times.

Some say the internet has given people unprecedented access to information but not necessarily empowering them. If knowledge is power then this is the book to read.

The more skills taught to tweens and teenagers on how to handle and conduct themselves during difficult situations the better. The more we educate and empower people particularly adolescents, the more we can emphasise the importance of consent. From the succinct words of the co-authors Stynes and Dr Kang, ‘be aware of your feelings, then think, then act’.

Advice without the cringe-factor

I have been through the adolescent stage a long time ago now it seems! The information in ‘Welcome to Consent’ is delivered in a really refreshing way that is devoid of judgement, blame and not prudish or embarrassing, cringy or out-dated.

The tone of the book resembles that of a cool young Aunty who is still young enough and aware enough to understand and connect with adolescents on a healthy relevant level! This is one of those books that should be left lying around, to encourage young adults to pick it up and get some hints on how to tread the murky waters of consent.  

‘Welcome to Consent’ ends nicely imploring the reader into ‘Finding Your People’. In finding the right support in tough situations, this is the backup that gives you the strength to say ‘Actually, no thanks, I’m not putting up with this’. Similarly, by you being someone else’s friend you can make a huge difference for them by giving them support.

Their final gem of advice is: Trust your instincts. Respect your body. Love and respect the bodies of others.

By the same author:

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