Larissa Astara Gray, Positive Sex Education Speaker, features in the latest episode of Dandelion Video Production’s What Do You Do? podcast – and her opening point alone is likely to surprise most parents.
“Positive” in her job title doesn’t mean she’s an advocate for more sex. It means she’s working to make it safer – by reducing harmful encounters before they happen. With up to 50% of 13 year olds already having encountered pornography online, Gray argues that waiting until mid-teens to have these conversations is too late.
In the episode she makes the case that consent education can and should begin at Key Stage 1 – not through discussions about sex, but through age-appropriate tools that teach children to recognise and express their own boundaries. She also speaks candidly about peer pressure, drawing on her own experience at 13 to explain why so many young people make decisions based on what they think everyone else is doing.
Perhaps most striking is her perspective on the long-term consequences of sexual violence – not just for victims, but for perpetrators. It’s a conversation that challenges assumptions and broadens what most people consider to be the full impact of these experiences.
The full episode is available on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcasts. Visit Dandelion’s website for this episode and more.