- Have students create a DateSmart notebook using construction paper and notebook paper, or have each student get a spiral notebook or loose-leaf binder. (Having the students design, create and decorate the book gives them more of a sense of ownership and allows them to be creative.) This book can be used throughout the series for students to jot their thoughts and ideas. Suggested sections are My Attitudes, My Values, My Limits, Dating Do's and Don'ts, Double Talk (persuasive words, phrases, and techniques). (These sections can be decided on by you and/ or the students; although some listed here are referred to throughout this guide and referenced again in the activities.) Feel free to organize your notebook to suit your needs. Where a specific section is not listed, you and your students can decide where to write the information.
- Have students write down their goals for the next five to ten years. Tell them to be as specific as possible about career and family plans. At what age do they plan to marry or start a family? Is marriage totally out of the question? What kind of job do they want? What will it take to get there? After they have had time to write these, ask them if anybody included in their goals a sexually transmitted disease or teenage pregnancy. Students may laugh but remind them that unprotected sex can lead to pregnancies and STDs. Although teen pregnancy rates have continued to decline, teenagers are still having babies. If possible, have statistics ready or have students find current statistics. Also, consider guest speakers a teen mom and/or an adult who contracted an STD as a teenager. Continue discussing their goals and the difficulties a baby or disease could create to those goals and their well-being
- Have students conduct library/Internet research on the sexual habits and attitudes of teenagers. Divide the students into pairs and have them select a particular subject i.e. teenage pregnancy rates, alcohol and date rape, condom use to reduce STDs) to research. Have each pair present their research to the class. Also, require each pair to create a poster or visual aid to accompany their oral report.
- Put the word, "sex, "on the board and have students discuss (out loud or in writing) what it means to them. Is intercourse the only behavior they think of as sex? Ask them why it is an important issue in today's society. Again, be prepared with statistics or have students research statistics regarding teen sexuality. Facilitate a discussion that includes sexual conduct, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, etc. (Try to include as many first-person/ anecdotal accounts as possible.)
- Have students brainstorm questions for a sexual habits and attitudes survey to be taken by students and their parents. Have students gather results and present in class. Check with administrators in your district to be sure this sort of survey is permissible in your district.
- Ask students to interview their parents about their dating-habits (in lieu of survey previously mentioned). Brainstorm a list of questions to ask and give students time to get the answers and share them. (Avoid getting too personal.) Ask students how their values (what's important to them about sex) is the same or different from their parents
- Assign students to read a book of fiction or non-fiction on dating. Then have the students report either orally or in writing on the book's content and message they learned about dating by reading it. (There are many new YA books addressing same-sex dating).
- Have each student write down a question they have on dating. Have them make a paper airplane out of it. Divide the class in two and have each side, on the word "Go," fly their planes to the other side. Whoever picks up the plane (one to a person) must answer the question. Collect these and share throughout the unit. They will probably be comical and informative.
- Create a "he said, she said, they said" question jar in which students write down questions they have about dating situations and sex. Remind students these must relate to attitudes and situations and not the physical act itself. Pull a question a day, a week, etc., to discuss with students, or keep them until the end of the unit and allow students to answer questions. If anything is unanswered, have students research it and share their results. If students believe something was left out of the video, have them write to the James Stanfield Co., and share their idea(s).
- Have students create their own Dating Do's and Don'ts list for themselves. Collect and put aside to compare with the Dating Do's and Don'ts they learn from the video series. Compare the two to check for differences and similarities. Share these in class. Have students create a current events bulletin board on which they place clippings from newspapers/magazines that have to do with teens and dating. Use these as springboards to discussion (This can be an ongoing activity throughout the series.) Debate premarital sex vs. abstinence. Divide the class up and have students stage a debate. Then ask each student to select the side that was most convincing and write down their reasons for selecting that side.
- Be aware that for students in same-sex relationships concern about pregnancy is likely non-existent however STD's and unwanted sexual advances can still pose a serious problem. Hold a safe space in your classroom conversations for students who identify as sexual minorities.
- Final thought beyond the scope of this series: The number of searches by teens for Internet pornography increases exponentially. Although the rates of boys seeking porn exceed that of girls, they are catching up. Any kid with a phone has access. It is a challenge to teach the concepts of consent, responsibility and mutual pleasure in sex when the opposite message is being taught graphically and explicitly to the kids in your classroom. Kids assume that what they see in porn is the norm. A frank and informed classroom conversation about Porn Literacy encouraging them to be critical consumers of porn may be in order. See the work by Emily Rothman, associate professor at Boston University's School of Public Health.
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