An Australian sexuality educator has created quite a stink over her suggestion for teaching babies the concept of consent, by asking them for permission before changing their diapers.

Deanne Carson, a sexuality educator with Body Safety Australia, which offers programs on empowering children and protecting them from child abuse, was interviewed on national public broadcaster ABC News earlier this week. During the segment, she explained that she works with newborns’ parents to help them create a “culture of consent” early in life.

Carson used the example of changing a baby’s diaper or “nappy” to illustrate her point.

“‘I’m going to change your nappy now. Is that okay?’” she said as an example of how to pose the question. “Of course, the baby is not going to respond: ‘Yes mom, that’s awesome. I’d love to have my nappy changed.’

“But if you leave a space and wait for body language and wait to make eye contact, then you’re letting that child know that their response matters.”

The educator’s remarks set off a firestorm of debate online with many on social media mocking her ideas and criticizing her credentials. Sky News Australia commentator Rowan Dean labelled Carson’s position as “left lunacy.”

She is fairly stupid though. Because the nappy has to be changed no matter how the baby reacts, so if they react negatively, the message they’ll receive is that their consent is irrelevant. By this woman’s own logic, that is - which is bad logic. — Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) May 11, 2018

Pretty sure when a baby is crying due to the discomfort of a full diaper ... that’s consent. In fact, I would go further and call it a demand. — James Robert (@james_r_photo) May 10, 2018

The parents would need to sign a separate parental consent form first, before the baby could sign his/her consent form. — Ben Slayton (@bslayton) May 11, 2018

A self proclaimed "expert" wants parents to ask permission before changing their childs diaper. This tells me she has no experience with kids what so ever. If I were to listen everytime my daugher says no we would get nothing done. They dont know what they are doing @DeanneCarson — PandaTheory (@ThePandaTheory) May 10, 2018

i think she wants to encourage a conversation about consent amongst kids, but has made a mockery of it by taking it to the extreme. babies can’t consent to anything. ever. they’re babies! their safety and survival needs are assumed. this is NOT a mainstream view of sex educators. — Laci Green (@gogreen18) May 10, 2018

Others, however, leapt to her defence and said her intentions were good even if the example she used wasn’t.

I'm seriously shocked at the negative response you got to this.... babies toddlers learn to communicate well before they can speak. Thank you for tolerating the trolls to create dialogue about this..... Even if you're wrong, what possible harm is there is showing respect — Bluebear Creative (@BluebearCreativ) May 10, 2018

I'm seriously shocked at the negative response you got to this.... babies toddlers learn to communicate well before they can speak. Thank you for tolerating the trolls to create dialogue about this..... Even if you're wrong, what possible harm is there is showing respect — Bluebear Creative (@BluebearCreativ) May 10, 2018

I'm seriously shocked at the negative response you got to this.... babies toddlers learn to communicate well before they can speak. Thank you for tolerating the trolls to create dialogue about this..... Even if you're wrong, what possible harm is there is showing respect — Bluebear Creative (@BluebearCreativ) May 10, 2018

I agree with Deanne Carson. Easy to chat to your baby. Easy to create a climate of consent in your home. Better than your kid being 1/12 sexually assaulted by age six. That’s disgusting. Be mad about that, not a baby chat. — Marianne Archibald (@MArchibald) May 10, 2018

In response to the backlash she received online, Carson fired back in a Facebook post that has since been deleted.

“Sadly, some people have chosen to ridicule me (oh no! Pink hair! Must be a lesbian!) and the notion of giving infants bodily autonomy (poo in nappies har har amiright?!)" she wrote. “The work we do with children, teachers and parents is international best practice in abuse prevention… Troll me all you want, add to your blog inches, but remember that when you do, you are negating the voices of these brave survivors of sexual abuse."