A bill introduced last week in the state Senate would require Michigan schools to teach something called affirmative consent.

Affirmative consent falls under sex education, and, in a nutshell, it means young people will receive instruction in knowing when yes means yes and no means no, as far as engaging in sexual relations is concerned.

“We need to change our culture, and by teaching kids to respect their partner and respect others’ rights, autonomy and their body, I think we can help turn the tide on this problem that we have at all of our college campuses,” state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D-East Lansing, said for a Detroit News story on the issue. Hertel is sponsoring the legislation, which is currently sitting in the Senate Committee on Education, where its future is uncertain.

“Instruction on affirmative consent shall include teaching pupils that in order for consent to be given to sexual activity, it must be affirmative and conscious and involve a voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity,” the News cited the legislation. The bill specifies that a “lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent and that silence does not mean consent.”

The executive director of the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, Debi Cain, also helped draft the bill.

We view this kind of training as falling into the common sense category.

This kind of approach should have found its way into schools a long time ago. We hope it gets a fair hearing in the state Senate.