The first lesson demonstrates how easy it is for young people to make bad choices by default – by failing to make healthy decisions.  The importance of considering consequences and thinking ahead is established in various situations.   Failing to think before acting often ends in youth making excuses. The final segment focuses on negative consequences for youth of becoming sexually active and how excuses don’t mediate those consequences.  Abstinence until marriage is the only certain way to avoid those consequences. 

The messages from this day begin to breakdown the health information on potential negative consequences beginning with Bacterial & Viral STD’s. We confirm the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection and disease is epidemic status, oral sex is sex, condoms only reduce risk to disease but do not eliminate the risk of disease.  Medical slides of STDs, information about symptoms, outcomes, transmission, and treatment are part of the activities. 

Today’s lesson focuses students on the “win/lose” nature to peer interactions that young teens face every day.  We help them identify characteristics of bullying and negative influences. Discussion about how to react in peer pressure situations will help students with refusal skills. The final segment focuses on identifying internal strength (self-concept descriptors, values, role models, etc.) and adults who can help them for facing bullying and negative peer pressure responsibly.

Youth are asked to see the purpose of dating is learning to develop relationships – fun & friendship.  The lesson begins looking at activities that teenagers might do with friends (homies) and what they would do with girlfriends/boyfriends (honeys) – there are many similarities.  Youth come to recognize the differences generally are 1) the meaning attached to the time spent together & 2) the level of physical touch occurring.  Invariably, adding sexual activity is destructive to teen relationships & can be personally destructive, especially with the transitory nature of teen relationships. 

Certain scenarios can lead to sexual activity more easily than others. Knowing and setting mental, emotional, and physical boundaries empowers youth to manage situations so that sexual activity does not take over.  The link of physical touch and its progression to sexual arousal is discussed to help youth set healthy boundaries for managing one’s self and circumstances. Recognizing the need to set physical boundaries is the beginning.