I Have the Right To by Chessy Prout
I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope by Chessy Prout and Jenn Abelson
Reviewed by C. Olmedo, J. Payton, I. Pisetsky, S Ponce, and K. Sanchez,
Image A: Chessy Advertising her Book
Review:
Chessy Prout and Jenn Abelson’s book: I Have the Right To is an informative memoir for young adults to discover the experiences felt by someone who has gone through trauma because of sexual assault. The novel takes place in 2014 where Chessy Prout is a freshman at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, a school known for prestige and one which her older sister attends. As Prout is faced with new experiences at this school, she is approached by a senior boy whose only concern is to sleep with Chessy Prout to complete his conquest game. Prout becomes the victim of sexual assault without fully understanding what has occurred to her. Once Prout realizes what has occurred to her, she speaks out to friends and family. However, to Prout and the reader’s surprise, she is not met with all of the support she expected. With the story’s progression, the difficult conversation about consent and trauma with sexual assault is present in the emotions felt by Prout and those around her. The emotions she runs through eventually leads Chessy to speak publicly and she meets a lot of pushback. The story calls the reader to attempt to understand the emotions of a sexual assault survivor and listen to what they go through such as Prout’s feelings of discontent, frustration, isolation, depression, etc. One of the aspects of the memoir that Chessy Prout emphasizes is her intended audience. Though Chessy is focusing on many harsh themes, trauma and sexual assault, she continues to argue that this is a text for middle school or high school aged kids. This is quite controversial seeing that Chessy does not spare the reader any euphemism when describing her sexual assault. Many schools are currently banging overtly graphic texts in school libraries. Chessy acknowledges this sentiment and argues that she was sexually assaulted at 14, therefore, it is important to educate young adults about the trauma and experiences of survivors. This is very poignant since many victims of S.A. are young adults, it is important to teach them about the relevance of this topic. The book also takes on the court case portion within it, centering the discussion and situation all together with the state of the world in that moment. The memoir presents a heavy and detailed understanding for young readers that explains the navigation of trauma and a positive representation of dissecting these emotions in a good way. This text serves as a tool of painstaking awareness of sexual assault as well as offers the narrative of the community that is possible to navigate of S.A. survivors that reclaim their bodies and their voices. Chessy's use of detail and honestly creates discourse that pushes the audience toward discussion on prevention, bodily autonomy, and consent. I Have the Right To is a painful but necessary read to begin widespread sexual assault prevention.
Image B: Chessy and her Family posing for People's Magazine
Biography:
Chessy Prout grew up in Tokyo, Japan with her family. After
a horrible earthquake and the nuclear crisis going on at the time- her family
was separated with her father staying in Japan for business- and herself, her
mother, and both her older and younger sisters moving to Florida. She was then
accepted at St. Paul’s boarding school in New Hampshire- where her father had
attended school and where her sister was currently attending school. There,
during her freshman year- she became part of a school tradition among the
senior class boys known as “Senior Salute” where she was sexually abused.
Chessy Prout is a survivor of sexual assault as well as an advocate for the
issue. She stepped forward and launched the #IHavetheRightTo initiative as a
PAVE ambassador. She has worked alongside the organization to speak out about
consent education among students in K-12 settings. Chessy has also co-founded a
non-profit organization (IHavetheRightTo.org) aiming to raise awareness of
sexual assault among high school students. Chessy is currently a student at
Barnard College and continues to use her voice as an advocate. Jenn Abelson is
a Washington Post investigative reporter and coauthor of Chessy Prout's memoir,
I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice,
and Hope. Jenn grew up in New York and now lives in Washington, DC after
attending Cornell University. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2015 for her
work on Shadow Campus with the Spotlight Team, a series investigating unsafe
off-campus undergraduate housing. Her investigations have revealed sexual
assault at New England prep schools, sexual harassment at ESPN, and modeling
business sexual misconduct.
Image C: Chessy Posing in front of Capitol Hill
Instructional Resources:
Educational piece on Consent
This is a tool from Planned Parenthood that covers the basics of consent. It has a serious tone and
mood so it is a great resource for a High school aged audience.
This is a tool that is useful for educators as it teaches individuals on how to guide conversations
with survivors in an open and accepting way.
Another video on the basics of consent that uses a lighter color scheme and feels less threatening
or daunting than the first so it is well suited for a younger audience. Also this piece is not
affiliated with Planned Parenthood so it would be less controversial in a classroom.
The website, I Have The Right To, which features Chessy’s first interview with the Today show.
This is a great tool for high school aged students which will allow them to ground themselves
into the reality of Chessy’s story.
I Have the Right To’s website page for critically thinking about the ways to construct a
community that is a safe space for young individuals. Good resource for educators to consider
the ways in which they construct their classrooms as safe spaces.
National Hotline for sexual assault survivors. A tool to help potential students who have been or
will be survivors of assault.
A tool to help guide the culture of conversation surrounding survivors away from victim blaming
and towards supporting communities.
A tool that aides survivors with information about how to move forward. A great tool to begin
conversations about the importance of self care post trauma.
This is a deeply triggering tool and should only be used with an older teen audience. It is an
article that debunks victim blaming and can be a tool to guide Socratic Seminar discussions on
the ways in which the school functions as a community of acceptance or denial.
Instructional Activity:
Preview:
Students will demonstrate and apply their understanding of consent and trauma from the book, I Have the Right to: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope, by analyzing characters’ trauma in the text and creating relevant comic strips.California Common Core Standards:
- Reading Standards for Informational Text 1. "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain (53).
- Reading Standards for Information Text 3. Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text (53).
- Reading Standards for Informational Text 6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text (53).
- Writing Standards 1. Introducing claims, developing claims, using varied syntax to link the major counterclaims, sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between (not cited) claims, reasons, and evidence. (back to cited): Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented (61).
- Writing Standards 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information (63).
- In the Common Core Standards, there are no specific standards for Health Literacy and Knowledge for adolescents. Clearly after reading this novel and understanding the nature of being educated on sexual health, this poses a problem with teenage students, as they go through middle and high school unaware of their bodies, their sexuality, and the complexities that go along with that, including trauma, grief, and healing. Therefore, although there is no Common Core Standard specific to Health Education Courses, our group believes that having the background of this novel in mind when teaching Sexual Education, or Sex Ed, is pertinent to keeping the adolescent’s privacy, boundaries, and awareness at the forefront of discussing sexuality and sexual activities.
Resources and Preparation:
- An Anticipatory Guide will be used before and after reading the book. It is to be printed out by the teacher. (It is attached to this post, as a PDF).
- All of the PDF Slides about Consent and Trauma, as well as the directions for the Character Analysis Activity and the Comic Strip Activity are attached to this post as well.
For the comic strip activity, students will create their own template using Pixton, which can be found online and is free. It is a comic strip app or website that allows students plenty of creative space, even in selecting and designing their own avatars, as well as the environments the avatars are placed in, the dialogue the avatars use, and supporting elements that bring the comic strip to life.
Anticipatory Guide:
See attached PDF labeled “Statements Regarding Consent Worksheet.”
It includes directions, but the directions are also here as well.
Before Reading: Students will complete the “Before Reading” section of the Anticipation Guide. Allocate about 5 minutes for students to agree or disagree with the statements. After completion, allow about 5-10 minutes for discussion, asking students to share some of their statements.
During Reading: Have students continue working on the Anticipation Guide, asking them to jot down the lines and pages they find relevant to their statements as they read.
After Reading: After the students finish reading, have the students complete the Anticipation Guide (again) by marking “True” or “False,” on the “After Reading” section. Then, have them provide a brief explanation as to how they came to that conclusion before moving on to the comic strip activity. The comic strip activity should take about 40 minutes to complete for a rough sketch/ design. They can have more time throughout the week to design and finish up their activity.
Instructional Plan:
For the overall Lesson Plan, it will take place over several days, almost as a Unit. The reason for this is because I Have the Right To is an emotionally heavy book. There are trigger warnings added in many places of the Lesson Plan, because the topic needs to be taught with sensitivity. Additionally, it is important that students learn both about consent and trauma, in relation to the bigger picture and storyline of Chessy Prout's life and sexual assault. Therefore, the Lesson Plan is longer than normal and includes two Supplementary Lesson Plans, on Consent and Trauma. The overall Instruction Plan is organized go as follows:
Day 1
- Introduce the Book to students
- Students complete the "Before Reading" Section of the Statements Regarding Consent Worksheet (Anticipatory Guide).
- Class will read Chapters 1-5 individually during class time.
Day 2
- Teacher(s) will give the Lesson on Consent, using the PDF Slides attached.
- Class will read Chapter 6 together, because this is an intense chapter. Read slow and allow students time to reflect.
- Class will ad any notes on their Statements Regarding Consent Worksheet throughout the reading.
- Students will continue to read Chapter 7-12 at home.
Day 3
- Teacher(s) will begin the next class period taking any questions or concerns from students.
- Students lead the discussion.
- The teacher(s) will give the Lesson on Trauma with the PDF Slides that are attached.
- Students will read Chapters 13-20 in groups during class time.
- Students will finish whatever they didn't finish during class for homework.
Day 4
- Class will begin with our Activity 1: Assessing and Analyzing Different Characters' Trauma, as shown in the novel.
- The worksheet and the instructions are attached as a PDF.
- The groups will share their discussion and findings with the class.
- Students will complete the "After Reading" Section of the Statements Regarding Consent Worksheet, and read Chapters 21-24 for homework.
Day 5:
- Class will read Chapter 25 together.
- Activity 2: Creating Comic Strips, using Pixton, will be introduced.
- They will work on this the remainder of class time and will have time to work on it over the weekend for homework.
- It will not be shared with the class, in order to respect everyone's individual privacy and experience with this topic.
Day 6:
- Pixton Comic Strips must be turned in before class time.
- Teacher will lead an open discussion on the entire novel and topics of sexual assault, consent, and trauma and answers any questions or concerns students have. Students can feel comfortable to share experiences or give their opinions on the topics.
Bibliography
“After Sexual Assault.” Rainn, https://www.rainn.org/after-sexual-assault. Accessed 16 May 2022.“All About Consent.” Planned Parenthood.
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/sex/all-about-consent. Accessed 16 May
2022.
“Consent and Sexual Violence: Training and Facilitation Guide.” BCcampus Open Education. https://opentextbc.ca/svmconsent/chapter/facilitating-discussion/. Accessed 16 May
2022.
“For Community.” I Have The Right To, https://www.ihavetherightto.org/for-community.
Accessed 16 May 2022.
I Have The Right To. I Have The Right To. https://www.ihavetherightto.org/about-us. Accessed
16 May 2022.
“Image A”. “Chessy Prout, High School Sexual Assault Survivor, Founder of #IHaveTheRightTo
| Washington, D.C. TheFemWord.world,
https://www.thefemword.world/her-story/chessy-prout-high-school-sexual-assault-surviv
or-founder-of-ihavetherightto-washington-dc. Accessed 17 May 2022.
“Image B”. Raab, Susana. “Chessy Prout with her Family”, People, 2018,
https://people.com/human-interest/chessy-prout-sexual-assault-st-pauls-school/. Accessed
17 May 2022.
“Image C”. Deck, Andrew. “Prout’s Role as a Public Advocate for Sexual Assault Survivors”.
MetropolisJapan.com, https://metropolisjapan.com/chessy-prout-sexual-assault-tokyo/.
Accessed 17 May 2022.
“James is Dead.” Youtube, uploaded by Blue Seat Studios, 2007,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op14XhETfBw.
“National Sexual Assault Hotline: Confidential 24/7 Support.” Rainn,
https://www.rainn.org/resources. Accessed 16 May 2022.
Prout, Chessy with Jenn Abelson. I Have The Right To. New York, Margaret K McElderry
Books, 2018.
“Understanding Consent.” Youtube, uploaded by Teaching Sexual Health Alberta Health
Services, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raxPKklDF2k&t=5s.
“You Can’t Tell Me I Wasn’t Raped”. ThePalyVoice, 8 Apr. 2013, https://palyvoice.com/52327/editorspick/you-cant-tell-me-i-wasnt-raped/. .Accessed 16
May 2022.
