Consent: Deal With It Before Boundaries Get Crossed

With more than 25 topics ranging from cyberbullying to homophobia, the “Deal With It” series is designed to help youth deal with conflicts and interpersonal problems. Consent: Deal with It Before Boundaries Get Crossed explains what consent means and provides examples of various real life situations in which consent is assumed, implied or informed as well as situations in which it is imperative that consent be expressed. The authors also emphasize that, at any time, consent can be taken back when a person changes their mind. Three specific roles – the choice maker, the consent taker and the witness – help readers to understand the concept of consent from different perspectives.

The book is comprised of comic strips, different types of quizzes, letters to a conflict counsellor, myths surrounding consent, and a few lists of dos and don’ts. Narrow “Did You Know?” bands across the bottom of some of the pages provide trivia and statistics. (One example is that, if a person shares a private photo or video of a minor, they can be charged with distribution of child pornography.) A list of helpline phone numbers, web sites and books are included at the back of the book.

Though the premise of the book is sound, there are several flaws, most of them related to the book’s appeal to the target audience. Firstly, the large hardcover format, the layout and the bland, unimaginative illustrations are too juvenile in their appearance. Secondly, the language and examples of situations vary between being too adolescent and more adult in nature. Finally, although the authors provide lists of dos and don’ts as they pertain to consent, they never actually mention outright that it is not a good idea to engage in activities which can come back to haunt a person, such as sending a nude photo of oneself to a boyfriend or girlfriend, or getting so drunk or high that one’s thinking processes – and ability to say no – are diminished. With the disconnect between the book’s message and its appearance, it is unlikely that any middle or high school student would ever pick up this book in the school library.