How Young People Are Learning About Sex (And What They're Getting Wrong)

How Young People Are Learning About Sex (And What They're Getting Wrong)

From Consider Before Consuming by Fight the New Drug

April 1, 2026 · 47 min · Episode 161

About this episode

Chanel Contos discusses the impact of social media on young people's understanding of consent and the importance of mandated consent education.

This episode includes discussion of sexual violence, coercion, and experiences of assault among young people. Listener discretion is advised. In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, we sit down with Chanel Contos, founder of Teach Us Consent, to talk about how one Instagram post led to thousands of young people sharing their experiences, and ultimately helped drive mandated consent education across Australia. Chanel shares what it was like reading through testimony after testimony of peer-on-peer sexual violence, and how those stories revealed patterns around coercion, misunderstanding, and the way many young people are navigating sex without a clear understanding of consent. We also explore what’s shaping young people’s expectations around sex and relationships today. How are teens actually learning about intimacy? What role does pornography play in shaping ideas about consent, boundaries, and what’s considered “normal”? And why are rates of youth-perpetrated sexual harm rising in some areas, even as other forms of abuse decline? Chanel breaks down how early, age-appropriate consent education can help address these gaps, and what it looks like to teach consent in a way…

People in this episode

Guest: Chanel Contos

Topics covered

  • sexual violence
  • consent education
  • teen relationships
  • pornography
  • coercion

Keywords

  • youth
  • intimacy
  • education
  • empathy
  • communication

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Consider Before Consuming, Oral Before Kissing

Places: Australia

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