As a facilitator, it is important to bear in mind your duties of care if, during the course of facilitating the Gist education program, you come to be aware of a young person who has caused, or is intending to cause harm to themself or to another person, or if they are acting outside of the ethical or legal boundaries. You will need to be clear about any internal and external reporting obligations of the school / education site directly, if you suspect a child or young person is experiencing abuse. Familiarise yourself with your own responsibilities within the context of your role, and within the terms of the school or education site that you are delivering this program at. If you are unsure, ask your supervisor and follow your organisation's policies and procedures.

Where possible, involvement of other site staff, such as mental health and wellbeing staff or other teachers, may be helpful for maintaining a safe learning space, including providing support for young participants in various activities. Additional supports may be needed for young people who wish to ‘opt out’ of doing the Gist education program, so that they may be occupied with other activities during class time.

We overall take a non-judgemental approach to what young people want, desire, or are curious about, as long as it is consensual, non-harming, and legal. This includes affirming young people regardless of their assigned sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation (including same-gender attraction or asexuality), and any relative levels of experience or inexperience. Talking about gender, sex, sexuality, identity, etc. can evoke strong feelings and reactions from everyone involved. Because many of these topics still have taboo status within our society, many people still struggle with even saying basic words like ‘penis’, ‘vulva’, or ‘gay’ without feeling embarrassed, including many relationships and sexuality educators. This means that it is also essential that the educator practices confidence in relation to the discussions, including in the use of new or unfamiliar language. It is important to stay humble about the words that young people themselves use, as long as they are not overtly discriminatory or bullying.

When speaking in this space, it is important to be factual and non-judgmental. While there may be times when colloquialisms are useful to assist engagement, always remember that understanding proper terminology is part of the educational outcomes in the sexual health and wellbeing space. It can be useful to use both the slang that participants use with the formal terminology.

Another common way of phrasing this is ‘Don’t Yuck My Yum’, which can also be useful as part of group agreements that are set at the beginning of the sessions; This particular phrase can be a shorthand to mean refraining from judging unfamiliar desires or sexual activities, as long as they are consensual.

It is easy to look up something you don’t know, but it is extremely difficult to hide from discomfort. In other words, it is more useful to be open and honest about what you know and what you don’t know, than to pretend. Pedagogically, this means being open to ‘being wrong’ in front of students, and role-modeling what it means to learn together in a world where language and knowledges about sex, gender and sexuality are rapidly changing.

It is also more useful to be honest about one’s own discomforts and learned prejudices, and simultaneously to be open to challenging them, so that students know that it is safe (and important) for them to do the same.

‘Person-centered’ refers to treating each student as a unique individual with their own particular knowledges, experience, and capacities. We will never be aware of the full context of another person’s life, so it is important to relate to each participant respectfully and according to their own particular needs. What may work (in education) for one individual may not work for another. Where possible, tailor-make the education sessions in order to support each person’s needs, rather than trying to make them ‘fit’ the program completely.

Honouring developmental diversity mean appreciating not only that each person is unique to themself, but also that there are cognitive and developmental differences between young people. For example, in general, there are different learning needs and abilities when comparing a 15 year old and a 21 year old young person. Similarly, even within a single age cohort, there may be differences in developmental maturity. Where possible, stay affirming of where each person is at, according to their learning capacity, and tailor make activities and the discussion to ensure that their learning access needs are engaged and respected.

Harm reduction is an approach to addressing risky behaviours that focuses on minimising the negative consequences of those behaviours. In the context of the Gist, it recognises that some young people may engage in activities that carry physical, psychosocial and legal risks, such as watching or sharing porn while under the legal age of consent, or using alcohol and other drugs.

A harm reduction approach is rooted in the principles of non-judgementalism and person-centered education: We seek to encourage young people to critically reflect on their decision making around risk, in order to make more informed choices. We also lend additional support by providing strategies and resources to reduce any potential harm associated with these activities. In these ways, we can maximise agency for young people to make any changes that they want to make, according to their own capacities and circumstances.

For example, a harm reduction approach to a young person disclosing sexual activity might include promoting the use of condoms and providing information and access to STI testing and treatment, regardless of how old they are. Overall, the goal of harm reduction is to promote health and well-being by informing young people of alternatives, providing them referrals for access to relevant services, and reducing the negative consequences of risky behaviours, rather than simply trying to eliminate these behaviours altogether. Any trace of negative judgement on a young person’s decisions can potentially alienate them and make them ‘shut down’ from wanting to learn more.

Pleasure positive education embraces and celebrates the things that bring us joy and happiness, and sex positivity suggests that this is especially so when it comes to enjoying one’s own body and sexuality. It means recognising that sex, sexuality, and pleasure are natural and healthy parts of being human, and that we have the right to experience and enjoy these. In particular, it also means recognising the roles that sex and sexuality can play as positive and constructive forces in a young person’s life.

For example, pleasure positive and sex positive education supports young people in openly addressing their questions, concerns and interests around sex, sexuality, romance, intimacy, and sexual pleasure in ways that are age-appropriate and that stresses safety, consent, respect, appropriate boundaries, and open communication. It might also involve learning about contraception and safer sex to ensure that young people can experience pleasure without putting themselves or others at risk.

Overall, pleasure positive is about creating a culture that values mutual pleasure and encourages each person involved to explore and enjoy it in ways that are safe, consensual, and respectful. It's about challenging the stigma around the human body and our desires, and recognising that pleasure is an important part of our overall well-being.

'You do you’ is a phrase that we have used across the Gist Youth site to encourage young people to be true to who they are, rather than only acting according to the wishes and expectations of others.

Specific to relationships, sexuality and porn literacy education, this is related to harm reduction and sex positivity, as we encourage each young person to consider both the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of particular behaviours and ideas, in order to make better informed choices that are right for themselves, rather than only worrying about fitting in, and rather than only doing what they are told.

‘You do you’ means doing what we like as long as we do not harm others and everything is consensual. It means respecting other people's choices and differences, and not only imposing one’s own agenda on others without their consent. Just as a young person should be able to enjoy what they enjoy, others also should be able to do the same. So it's important to be supportive of others, even if their life decisions may be different from our own.

Overall, ‘you do you’ is a reminder that each young person is unique and should be celebrated for their differences, rather than only trying to conform to others' expectations.

If you are an adult educator, recognise the implicit power differences between you and the young participants in this program. This means recognising that the students in the classroom may not have had as many opportunities as you’ve had, and many will also likely have had various restrictions placed on them from authority figures on their ability to manage their personal relationships and make informed, or well-resourced decisions.

In this context, ‘radical consent’ means positive role-modelling: We want to walk the walk, by running a series in which participants consent to their education sessions, and can opt out at any time without fear of punishment, wherever possible. It means that young people can have the right to pass on any questions, and manage their own engagement through the course of each session.

An educator would be advised to refrain from taking any young person’s choice on involvement or un-involvement personally.

While ‘trauma-informed’ often requires far more ongoing training, reflection, and self-work than this education series can provide in itself, it is nevertheless useful to consider this principle as it pertains to particular vulnerabilities that young people doing the Gist may have experienced. This is especially so compared to other young people in mainstream education. These may include potentially higher vulnerability to or histories of abuse and sexual exploitation, displaying harmful sexual behaviours themselves, and risk of historical or ongoing involvement in criminal justice system.

This means, in part, recognising that a person’s behaviour is not the same as who they are, as a person. It is important to separate a person from their behaviour.

You may not always be aware of a young person’s experiences, nor can you always anticipate how a young person will respond to the material, and it can be useful to develop emotional readiness if any young person feels triggered in any way.

Trauma responses to look out for include things like hyper-vigilance (e.g. taking things very personally, becoming highly sensitive to certain subjects) or dissociative tendencies (e.g. a participant may ‘check out’ of the classroom or program, or even suddenly changing topics or going dramatically off-topic, if things get too intense or difficult for the individual).

If any of these happen, it may be useful to focus on calming the space, or trying to focus participants’ attention back onto different subject matter that may be less triggering. Alternatively, it can also be useful to simply notice how young people are or are not engaging without necessarily intervening at every stage, even if a participant expresses discomfort. Sometimes some degree of discomfort is useful as part of supporting a person in transformative learning.

Overall, it is essential to keep discerning if something is ‘too much’, or if it is ‘just right’ for participants to feel ‘stretched’ in their learning, and to support their own capacity for insight and meaning-making in the program.

Porn literacy & media literacy refer to critically evaluating and analysing the information that young people see and hear in porn and broader media, whether in news stories, streaming on-demand programs, social media, or advertising. It means reflecting on how the porn industry and media industry work, and identifying social biases and hidden agendas.

For example, porn literacy might involve asking questions such as:
- ‘Who created this content?’
- ‘What is their purpose or agenda?’
- ‘How does this influence my own desires and expectations about sex, sexuality and gender?’
- ‘How does my search history predict what I am shown in the future?'
- 'How do algorithms influence the content a person is exposed to online?'

By developing these skills, a young person can become a more informed and critical consumer of porn and media, and make better decisions on how to act in their relationships with themselves and others. It can also help young people to recognise and resist manipulation, and to identify and challenge harmful stereotypes and biases that can be present in porn.

Radical inclusion in education means welcoming and accepting young people regardless of their cultural and linguistic backgrounds, sex, gender, and sexual identities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) identities and experiences, ability, or disability. It means creating a learning space where each young person feels valued and respected, and where everyone has a chance to contribute, be listened to, and experience a sense of agency in their own learning experience.

One way we do this is by engaging participants in generating a list of Group Agreements at the start of the first session to support their safety and interest in the subject matter. This list can then be re-visited during sessions and at the beginning of each session, to remind them of their own commitments and values.

These principles are about recognising and valuing the diversity of young people’s needs and experiences, and making sure that each person has the support and resources they need to participate fully in the sessions, wherever possible. It also means acknowledging that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach often does not work, and that truly inclusive practice is adaptive and flexible, from student to student, classroom to classroom, and even session to session.

Overall, make sure that fun is integrated within the sessions. Keep things light-hearted, wherever possible. This will make sessions easier to run, more engaging for the participants and facilitator, and more likely to support participants in their key learning outcomes.

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