When 20-year-old Brock Turner, a former Stanford University student, was sentenced to six months in county jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in California, many saw the punishment as too lenient and the case sparked conversations about sexual ass au lt.

[Read about how high schools and middle schools are failing victims of sexual assault.]

Last year, California approved legislation that would make it the first state in the country to require many high schoolers to learn about sexual consent, The Associated Press reported. A handful of states have considered similar legislation recently, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Some teens already learn about sexual consent in high school, or will soon. Students in Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools are set to learn about consent starting in the fall, the Washington Post recently reported.

Parents of teens wondering what and if their child will learn about sexual consent in high school can consult the following questions.

1. Will my teen learn about consent during sex education? Policies regarding health and sex education vary from state to state and sometimes even district to district, says Terri Wright, an expert on school, health and education with the American Public Health Association. Some states don’t require public schools to teach sex education and others may only teach abstinence, she says.

Some states follow national guidelines for health education, which cover consent , Wright says. But when the topic of sexual consent is taught in public schools, abstinence is generally always taught first, she says. And sex education is typically taught within the context of overall health and well-being.

Melanie Lynch, a health education teacher at State College Area High School in Pennsylvania, says she teaches her students about consent, along with abstinence. But she thinks sexual consent is not taught nearly enough and that some teachers don’t feel comfortable teaching it.

2. How do students learn about sexual consent in high school? When teaching students about consent, usually health education teachers first teach students about abstinence and saying, “No,” effectively, says Wright, because teachers don’t want teens to think that they have to engage in sexual activity.

Then, educators typically will teach students what it means to give consent to sex, the precautions necessary to take when having sex, potential consequences of sex and the overall responsibilities that come with having sex all in the context of personal and family values, she says.

Lynch, who was also honored as the 2016 National Health Education Teacher of the Year by the Society of Health and Physical Educators, uses a lighthearted video about sexual consent, discussion and a case study on the recent conviction of two teens from Steubenville, Ohio, who raped a 16-year-old girl, to cover the topic.

She explains to her students that they have to receive consent to engage in sexual activity — just because someone doesn’t explicitly say, “No,” to sexual activity, doesn’t mean they’ve said, “Yes.”

[Find out how teen sexual assaults highlight need for prevention programs.]

3. Are sexual consent lessons effective? Lynch says these lessons, like anything in sex education, are effective when done correctly. Lessons should follow recognized guidelines, there should be ground rules and teachers and students should be respectful of one another, as it’s a sensitive topic.

Her lessons are primarily skills-based. It’s not just about teaching students what consent means — but how to enact it as well, she says. She helps her students develop decision-making, goal-setting, communication, self-management and refusal skills , among others.

“Sometimes people aren’t able to say, ‘No,’ but they don’t want to say, ‘Yes,'” she says. She works on teaching refusal skills in her classroom and teaches students about self-respect. “That you deserve to be heard and your wishes need to be carried out at all times.”

Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

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3 Answers for Parents About Sexual Consent Lessons in High School originally appeared on usnews.com