This third grade teacher's classroom lessons on consent are perfection.
This article originally appeared on 10.08.18
Liz Kleinrock has used America's heated discourse on sexual violence as the springboard for lessons on consent for her third graders.
Kleinrock, who teaches at Citizens of the World Charter School Silver Lake in Los Angeles, took to Facebook and Instagram to share the visual aids she uses in her lessons about about consent.
She talks about what consent looks and sounds like. She explores when consent is needed in a way that's appropriate for the age group. She also addresses some of the “What if" questions kids might raise, such as “What if the other person says “No," but they're smiling?" or “What if the person wanted a hug yesterday, but doesn't today?" and gives kids alternatives for what to do if consent is not given.
Kleinrock says that current conversations about sexual assault prompted her to take action with the kids in her classroom.
“Everything about Kavanaugh in the news has been making me HEATED," she wrote on the social media accounts she keeps for her website, Teach and Transform. “So whenever I get frustrated about the state of our country, it inspires me to proactively teach my kids to DO BETTER. Today was all about CONSENT. We even explored the grey areas, like if someone says “yes" but their tone and body language really says “no." Role playing is a great way to reinforce these skills, but they MUST be taught explicitly!"
Kleinrock says her consent lessons aren't about sex, and that the concept of consent starts long before sexual relationships come into the picture.
Some people may feel weird about addressing consent with kids so young. But Kleinrock says there are foundational lessons that need to start early, which aren't directly tied to sex.
“For a lot of adults, the idea of addressing consent with children is alarming because of the relationship between consent and sex," Kleinrock wrote in an article on Tolerance.org. “However, it's important to break down the concept of consent regarding boundaries, comfort, physical interactions and mutual respect before even getting into the subjects of sex, romantic relationships or toxic masculinity."
She and her third graders brainstorm situations that might call for consent, and explore the “gray areas" that sometimes trip kids—and adults—up. For example, what if someone's body language is saying something different than their words? What if someone is hesitant in their response?
Kleinrock also points out that it's not all about someone's physical personal space. “Students giggle and contribute ideas such as giving hugs and kisses," she said, “but also state that it's important to ask for permission when it comes to sharing and borrowing items from another person. One child proclaims, 'And telling secrets! You have to ask permission to tell someone else's secret!'"
Kleinrock has now added “secrets" to her lessons on personal safety and boundaries.
The student who said “secrets" were something that needed consent to tell was partially right. But that message can be problematic for kids who have been violated and told to keep it a secret.
So Kleinrock has added a lesson about when to keep a secret and when not to. She points out that things like hate speech or doing something dangerous or inappropriate are not things to keep secrets about, whereas fun surprises or someone's personal business—like a kid's parents getting divorced—are secrets we shouldn't share.
Imagine if all kids got such thorough and thoughtful lessons on consent starting at an early age. Keep up the awesome work, Ms. Kleinrock.
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An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.