Lesson 1
Understanding Sexual Health View lesson
Students begin this lesson by establishing agreements or guidelines for classroom discussion about sexuality and sexual health. After briefly reviewing the different aspects of sexuality, students focus on how the choices people make about sex can affect their sexual health. They define and explore the potential risks and negative consequences of sexual activity, and contrast these with the benefits of sexual abstinence. They compare their perceptions to actual norms around sexual activity among ninth graders to reinforce that most students their age are not currently sexually active. Then they work in pairs to write answers to questions in an advice column about sexual abstinence, sexual activity and sexual health.