Implementation of Consensual Education (CE) & Mandatory Self-Defence Classes in all Schools

Petition for a Safer, More Respectful World:

Our team has identified a problem in today’s society where certain content is not being taught when it should be. Many topics are hidden or not expressed to the fullest, and our aim is to bring this issue to relevant education authorities, policymakers and school communities. 

Our idea is to implement subjects that provide knowledge rather than force our ideals, preparing our younger generations for real-life situations that unfold during human interaction. Similar to Health and PE, we aim to introduce age-appropriate education from Years 1–12. These classes will cover personal boundaries, consent, respect, bullying, positive bystander behaviour, conflict de-escalation, and personal safety/self-defence. These are just the general topics we aim to add to schools and the schooling system/curriculum. 

Each age group covers specific content to help prepare our children for the social and physical realities of today’s society. We plan to educate them about the different types of interactions people can experience in everyday life. By implementing these classes in all schools, we can teach our children what a lot of us had to learn the hard way. The subject of CE (Consensual Education) will be an informative class with group discussions and fun activities. These classes will cover some of the topics such as relationships (and what they are about), stereotypes, sex, porn, masturbation, and more topics that schools don’t mention or fully go into. Our goal is to bring up these topics in an informative, unbiased way so students can make their own decisions. Our classes will also focus on educating both men and women, keeping everything equal.

We are a team working on a Citizen Project exploring how education can help create a safer and more respectful society. Our project is investigating whether giving young people these skills and knowledge can increase confidence, encourage respectful behaviour and help people respond safely when they or someone else may be at risk. Currently, we are in the process of forming a detailed school curriculum for these subjects, and are also partnering with a trial school, Chrysalis Montessori Primary School, to see how students find the class and whether it’s satisfactory or not. With your help, you can make this dream a reality. You can help make the world a safer place. 

By signing this petition, I support the information mentioned above as well as any further investigation and discussion of age-appropriate safety, respect and personal development education in schools.

Organised by Students: Luna Jancic, Arek Pepping, Rory Young, and Lila Mansfield 
Project: IDEA Academy Active Citizen Project 
Trial School: Chrysalis Montessori School

Who we are petitioning to: Relevant education authorities, policymakers and school communities.

What happens next?
The results of this petition will form part of our Citizen Project evidence. We will use the level of community support, alongside our research, surveys and workshop results, to evaluate our proposal and present our findings to relevant stakeholders.