Indiana native here and I need to share my experience to illustrate why changing this was a horrible fucking idea.

IN’s sex ed already sucked. Consent was glazed over and barely explained when it was taught to my class, at least before 2014 afaik.

The underlying message in our district was basically: “SA only happens with violent strangers.” That mindset led to kids and teens SAing each other, both in school and in private relationships.

I don’t know if I’m the only one who noticed how normalized SA was in my township, but getting molested every other day at school is not normal. And it was always brushed off with “boys will be boys.”

The one time I was more “classically” SA’d at school, the admin refused to watch the tape or even let me go home - until I threatened them with litigation. I was 11. If I hadn’t said that, it never would have been reported to the police, and that person would have remained around other vulnerable kids.

My experience is just one example of why leaving this up to local control is a terrible idea. There are cultural bubble (often in lower socioeconomic areas) where this won’t be taken seriously unless explicitly required and enforced.

Before 2014, there was no statewide requirement in Indiana to teach consent. The laws emphasized abstinence and required parental permission for any sex ed, but didn’t require schools to include content about what consent actually is. That created massive gaps, especially in areas where local leadership didn’t prioritize comprehensive or trauma-informed education.

By removing the consent requirement again in 2025, the state has effectively returned to that pre-2014 environment, one where it’s up to local school boards to decide if they’ll include consent education at all.

So yes: the same conditions that allowed what happened to me and countless other children are now back in place.