Parent, Guardians, Caregivers and Kin Guide
Consent Awareness Week · For families
Parents, Caregivers, Kin and Guardians
You don't need to be an expert or have the perfect words. By listening with curiosity, respecting young people's choices, and making space for honest questions, you help build the trust they need to speak up, seek support, and care for others.
Young people learn about consent, boundaries, and care from the people who love them.
This page offers practical, grade-responsive ways to continue the conversation at home and across family, kinship, and community relationships. Choose what fits your young person's age, experiences, and comfort. A small everyday interaction or a five-minute conversation can be a meaningful place to begin.
Everyday moments
Growing consent, respect, and care
Consent is already practised in the everyday ways we care for one another. When you ask, "Can I sit beside you?", check before offering a hug, knock before entering a room, or say, "that belongs to them, let's ask first," you're modelling consent without needing a formal lesson.
Consent begins with four small actions
Pause. Ask. Listen. Honour the answer.
This week, families, caregivers, kin, and other trusted adults can build on the language young people are hearing at school. With younger children, talk about feelings, personal space, and their right to make choices about their bodies. With older youth, explore friendships, boundaries, digital consent, and where to find support for a friend who has been harmed, or for themselves.
These conversations can happen anywhere care or connection is built: around the dinner table, during a drive, while visiting extended family or kin, or in community spaces.
Grade-responsive ideas
A few simple ways to join this week
Choose the ideas that best fit your young person's age, development, and comfort. These conversations can happen with family, caregivers, kin, and other trusted adults.
Kindergarten to Grade 2
Choices and feelings
Offer choices such as "Would you like a high five, a hug, or a wave?" and honour the answer. Practise asking before touching someone or using their belongings. Help children name their feelings, and remind them they can always say "no," "stop," or "not right now."
Grades 3 to 5
Space, privacy, friendship
Talk about personal space, privacy, friendship, and asking before sharing someone's photo or story. Use everyday situations such as borrowing an item, entering a room, or joining a game to explore how we ask, listen, and respond respectfully.
Grades 6 to 8
Boundaries and digital consent
Ask an open-ended question at dinner, such as "What kind of boundaries are important in a friendship?" Use a show, game, group chat, or news story to discuss pressure, privacy, and digital consent. Listen with curiosity rather than jumping to a solution.
Grades 9 to 10
Relationships and power
Talk about how consent and boundaries work in friendships, dating, group chats, social media, and workplaces. Discuss how power differences with a partner, peer, coach, coworker, or supervisor can make it harder to say no. Explore recognizing pressure, checking in, respecting a change of mind, and helping a friend without taking over.
Grades 11 and 12
Preparing for what's next
Watch the BRAVE video together or ask what "We Believe You Day" meant at their school. Explore ongoing consent, caring relationships, and where to find confidential support. As they prepare for college, university, work, or independent living, talk about new relationships, parties, shared housing, substance use, and differences in age, authority, or power, while respecting their growing independence and privacy.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions for families
Why does consent matter at home, not just at school?
Because consent is an everyday practice of care and respect, and home is where children first learn it. Every time you ask before a hug, knock before entering a room, or say "that's theirs, let's ask first," you're showing what consent looks like. These small, everyday moments build the trust and skills young people carry into every friendship, relationship, and community.
My child is too young to be talking about consent.
You're probably already doing it. Every time your toddler squirms away from a hug and you say "okay, no hug right now, how about a wave?", or your child says "stop!" during tickles and you stop, that's consent. It's not a talk you sit down and have. It's the everyday back-and-forth of noticing boundaries, respecting a no, and asking first. Honestly, little kids are often better at it than we are. They'll tell you exactly when they've had enough. Naming it out loud ("thanks for telling me, I'll stop") is all it takes to begin, and it's never too early.
I'm not an expert. How do I even start?
You don't need to be an expert or have the perfect words. Consent begins with four small actions: pause, ask, listen, and honour the answer. Modelling those in everyday moments is often the most powerful place to begin, no formal lesson required.
What if my child doesn't want to talk?
That's okay. Listen with curiosity rather than pushing for a big conversation, and let small everyday moments carry the message. A five-minute chat during a drive or at dinner can matter more than a formal talk. Choose what fits your young person's age, experiences, and comfort.
How do I talk about consent at different ages?
With the youngest children, focus on feelings, personal space, and choices about their bodies. In the middle years, talk about privacy, friendship, and asking before sharing. With teens, explore relationships, digital consent, power differences, and where to find support, moving toward more independence as they grow. The by-age ideas above walk through each stage.
Where can my family find support?
If you or your young person needs support, High School Too's support page lists trusted people, community services, and crisis resources. Your school board's website is also a good place to find local supports. If someone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services.