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Our schools believe in discussing abstinence. Won't teaching teenagers about consent lead to more sexual activity among those same teenagers?

Over the years of discussing verbal consent with students around the country, this concern has been expressed numerous times, usually by females of various ages. The worry is that showing any verbal sexual communication will lead to her partner thinking she wants "everything" and/or is a "slut."

As our society has become more open to different kinds of relationships, the hard and fast rules of what is appropriate have become difficult to maintain. Ours is a society that now accepts all kinds of pairings between consenting adults. Norms and rules that were once perceived as given no longer apply. This openness extends to age differences among couples that were once seen as unacceptable. Older men and younger women whose age differences span twenty or even thirty years are now more common. But the question remains: is there a line for older men looking for younger women that actually should not be crossed? How young is too young?

I thought that somebody had died. I called home. My Mom answered and I asked, "What's wrong?" As I held the phone tightly to my ear, I could not believe what she was saying. My youngest sister had been raped. "This can't be happening" is all I kept saying to myself. Anger, rage, confusion, and a rush of emotions overtook me. Violence against women had abruptly altered my life.