Many publications for educators have been reporting on how teachers address consent with their students. This isn’t a conversation reserved for middle school and high school teachers, either. Elementary school teachers in the primary grades are also having conversations with their students about consent for things like going over to someone’s house, borrowing a toy, or giving a hug. As much as it may make us uncomfortable, even conversations about unwanted sexual advances are taking place with young children who are aware of issues discussed in the news. Regardless of whether or not you believe the accusations, two of the nine justices with lifetime appointments to the highest court in the land have been accused of sexual misconduct. Conversations about consent are a necessity.

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake is not a book about consent for younger readers. It is definitely more appropriate for high school students and the message that it imparts is quite powerful for young women and men. In this book, the protagonist Mara is shocked when she hears that her twin brother Owen has been accused of rape by his girlfriend Hannah. She is shocked, but also open minded. It seems natural that family members would struggle to believe that someone they love and have known so long would be capable of doing something so damaging to another human being. However, every man or woman who sexually assaults another person is a member of someone’s family. That does not make them innocent of violence. Mara shows us how difficult, and potentially empowering, it can be to accept that someone you trusted has done something that permanently harms another person.

This book also communicates the often misunderstood truth that loving someone and having been intimate with them in the past is not permanent consent. That is extremely important for high school students to know. It also deals with the effects of over indulging in alcohol and the impairment of judgment that can result.

Girl Made of Stars is written from Mara’s point of view and the implications of that choice would be interesting to discuss in an English class. Teachers of Health courses could use this book when talking about consent or about drinking. This book would also be powerful in a course about law and justice as it provides an honest look at how many of these cases end.

Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards:

Identity 3: I know that all my group identities and the intersection of those identities create unique aspects of who I am and that this is true for other people too.

Identity 4: I express pride and confidence in my identity without perceiving or treating anyone else as inferior.

Diversity 10: I understand that diversity includes the impact of unequal power relations on the development of group identities and cultures.

Justice 12: I can recognize, describe, and distinguish unfairness and injustice at different levels of society.

Action 17: I take responsibility for standing up to exclusion, prejudice, and injustice.

Common Core Standards:

RL.3- Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama.

RL.6- Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant.

W.1- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

How does one become an empathetic person? Why are some children more empathetic than others? These are questions that we often ask ourselves as educators due to the developmental stages of the individuals we spend most of our time with at work. I don’t know that there is a “right” answer to these questions, but I do believe that awareness of our own experiences and those of others is a crucial first step in the development of empathy. For me, a lot of this learning occurred by reading books.

Along with a knowledge of different experiences, empathy requires a general picture of what every individual should have access to as a human being. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, as a response to the Second World War. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, created by the same international organization, took effect on September 2, 1990. These two documents represent a series of basic rights to which every human being is entitled.

Two books that do a remarkable job of explaining these rights in language that young people will understand are Every Human Has Rights created by National Geographic and A Life Like Mine developed by Dorling Kindersley in association with UNICEF. Every Human Has Rights includes brief statements which summarize each of the 30 universal rights along with photos and writings from young people around the world. A Life Like Mine organizes individual vignettes about children around the rights defined by the Convention.

Both of these books will inspire conversations around what these rights mean to children in our classrooms. What does “every human in the world must be treated as a person” mean in our world today (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)? If “every child should have a home” why don’t they (Convention on the Rights of the Child)? Imagine the writing projects that could stem from the question, “What can we do to ensure this right is a given for every person or child?”

Knowing what justice looks like is one of the first steps in addressing injustice in our world. These texts are wonderful ways to introduce this concept to students.

Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards:

Diversity 8: I want to know more about other people’s lives and experiences, and I know how to ask questions respectfully and listen carefully and non-judgmentally.

Justice 14: I know that life is easier for some people and harder for others based on who they are and where they were born.

Action 16: I pay attention to how people (including myself) are treated, and I try to treat others how I like to be treated.

Action 19: I will speak up or do something when I see unfairness, and I will not let others convince me to go along with injustice.

Action 20: I will work with my friends and family to make our school and community fair for everyone, and we will work hard and cooperate in order to achieve our goals.

Common Core Standards:

RI.5 – Use text features to locate information relevant to a topic efficiently.

RI.7- Use information gained from illustrations and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text.

W.1- Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

W.9- Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Ramifications of colonialism persist in the world today. Education, health, and socioeconomic status are just a few of the areas in which Indigenous communities are adversely impacted by historical and current patterns of discrimination. In The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline weaves a story of strength and family into a terrifying future.

In this dystopian North America, only the Indigenous people still have the ability to dream. Everyone else has lost this ability and with it the ability to function in their waking lives. As an Elder says in this book, “A man without dreams is just a meaty machine with a broken gauge.” The colonizers of North America were unceasing in taking what did not belong to them and the history of the Indigenous people of North America includes being evicted from their homelands and sent to residential schools where every effort was made to obliterate Indigenous culture. In The Marrow Thieves, taking the dream-storing bone marrow of Indigenous people was a further step to destroy their culture.

Frenchie, the protagonist, is on the run from Recruiters who capture Indigenous people to perform these operations which lead to loss of limbs or lives. He has already lost his biological family, but he forms a new family with the people he meets in the woods. Their commitment to each other is just as strong as that of blood relations. While this story is imagining a future that will hopefully never materialize, there are still important lessons to be gleaned from this text and this would be a powerful book for high school students to read when studying colonialism.

Somehow, in spite of the best efforts of colonizers, many Indigenous communities have maintained cultural traditions, languages, and beliefs so that these may be shared with successive generations. Frenchie’s voice in this book and the stories he tells will enrich the perspectives of all who read them and offer students inspiration to protect the people who live these stories.

Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards:

Diversity 8- I respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others and exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.

Diversity 10- I understand that diversity includes the impact of unequal power relations on the development of group identities and cultures.

Justice 12- I can recognize, describe, and distinguish unfairness and injustice at different levels of society.

Common Core Standards:

RL.2- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text.

RL.3- Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story.

RL.5- Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

Illness can be incredibly lonely. Often, mental illness is doubly so because it is hidden away inside the sufferer or stigmatized by those it does not affect. We do not have enough mental health care providers in our country and, at least where I live, that is especially true for children. More and more of the emotional support for these children is provided by people in homes and in schools. Teachers do not always receive training in mental health, but it is becoming increasingly important in their daily work.

I believe that one of the best things that teachers can do to help support their students is to talk about emotions and destigmatize feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression in their classrooms. We have to share with our students that they are not alone in feeling this way. We also have to explain that there are differences in how intensely people experience these emotions and how our brains respond to the chemicals that regulate our emotions. Sometimes, people need help to manage the feelings they are dealing with and that is no different than needing glasses, insulin shots, or non-dairy milk. Children need to feel comfortable talking about their emotions so that they do not hide them away.

In Small Things by Mel Tregonning, anxiety eats away at a little boy, literally. This wordless book shows in images what it can feel like to suffer from intense anxiety or other mental illnesses. It also ends with an encouraging message to find support from others when dealing with overwhelming emotions. While this story is wordless, it could be an incredible story to share as a whole class. It might be easiest for students to interact with this book if a teacher is able to project the pages onto a screen. Give students the time to talk about what they are seeing and allow them to process the images in their own ways. Also remind them that if they are not comfortable sharing with the group, they can always come talk to a safe adult or a close friend.

Sometimes the best thing we can do for students is to make the hard things visible so they know that these are not deficits or failings. It may not make them easier to deal with, but at least it offers the hope of a better tomorrow.

Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards:

Diversity 6- Students will express comfort with people who are both similar to and different from them and engage respectfully with all people.

Diversity 8- Students will respond to diversity by building empathy, respect, understanding and connection.

Action 16- Students will express empathy when people are excluded or mistreated because of their identities and concern when they themselves experience bias.