IYD: AEF Practictioner's Corner

Abstinence Education Initiative

PRACTITIONER'S CORNER
…A RESOURCE TO KEEP YOU IN THE KNOW

Quarterly Update: Vol 1, No 1

Contents

Research
Trends
Programs / Curricula
- Programs for Use in Public Schools or Community Organization
- Faith-Based Programs

RESEARCH

20-Minute HIV Test Available

The FDA has approved a rapid HIV test to be made available to the public, allowing people to know in 20 minutes if they are infected with the deadly virus. Previously patients have had to wait days for test results. As a result, many of those tested for the human immunodeficiency virus never bothered to return to clinics to learn if they had the virus, which causes AIDS. That has been a problem because those infected may not get timely treatment and may persist in risky sexual behavior that causes partners to become infected.

The new test, called OraQuick, costs about $12. It is expected to help officials identify those infected more quickly and in greater numbers, making it easier to steer them toward treatment and safer sex practices. However, they caution that a positive test result is considered preliminary; another test is needed to confirm the result.

Rapid tests have been commonly used overseas for several years. It was approved in this country four years after health officials had declared its use an urgent need. The test's rollout after approval has been slowed by various factors, including the need to train testers and counselors in the new procedures. Officials at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center said it was among the first clinics in the nation to offer OraQuick to the public, from its headquarters in Hollywood and a business in West Hollywood. Slowly, the test's use is expected to expand. The CDC announced that it would spend $2 million to purchase 250,000 OraQuick tests, which then would be distributed to counties, cities and community groups across the nation.

The Bush administration has approved the use of the test outside of health clinics if clinics get the proper permission from the state-- a step that many public health officials had long pushed. While tests previously were given in clinics, officials say OraQuick can be given elsewhere. Health officials hope to use it in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, jails, sex clubs and neighborhoods where higher numbers of infected people reside. Still, the test is not yet in widespread use. Many AIDS groups have yet to receive permission to use it outside of a clinical setting. Others haven’t purchased the units. And others are caught up on how to deal with providing results. Health advocates have said that they need time to develop the appropriate counseling for a test whose results come so fast.

HPV Infection Linked to Oropharyngeal and Penile Carcinomas

A study published in the British Journal of Cancer based on recent research from the Netherlands, shows infection with the sexually transmitted disease human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 has been linked to oropharyngeal, and penile carcinomas. A carcinoma is an invasive malignant tumor.

The researchers stated that among the patients with penile squamous cell carcinoma, seroprevalence was 38 percent (p<.001). Among patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma, seroprevalence was 33 percent (p=.04). Among patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, seroprevalence was 14 percent (p=.7).

The serological evidence for association between HPV 16 infection and both oropharyngeal carcinoma and penile carcinoma was established, they added.

Study Links Teen Sex to Depression

A new study from the Heritage Foundation reports that teens who have had sexual intercourse are more likely to feel depressed and suicidal than teens who have not become sexually active. Early sexual activity, in addition to causing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, is a substantial factor in undermining the emotional well-being of American teenagers according to a study written by Robert Rector, Kirk A. Johnson and Lauren R. Noyes.

Using data from a national survey of 6,500 teens ages 14 to 17, researchers found teen girls who had sexual intercourse were three times more likely to be depressed than girls who had not. Similarly, sexually-active boys were twice as likely to be depressed than peers who had not had sex. Suicide attempts also were significantly more common among sexually-active teens than their chaste peers.

"A lot of the safe-sex curricula in schools today are very focused on physical health aspects," Mr. Johnson said. "We think the safe-sex message to adolescents fails to adequately communicate the emotional risks involved in early sexual experimentation. Clearly, having more of an abstinence message is going to alleviate those concerns."

The Heritage Foundation analysts used data from the 1996 National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, which was conducted with 6,500 middle and high school students. They found that of girls who have had sexual intercourse, 25.3 percent were often depressed and 14.3 percent attempted suicide in the last year. In contrast, only 7.7 percent of virgins said they were regularly depressed and 5.1 percent attempted suicide. Of boys who have had sexual intercourse, 8.3 percent were often depressed and 6 percent attempted suicide in the last year. This is compared to 3.4 percent of virgins who were depressed and .7 percent who attempted suicide.

Survey: Most Teens Wish They'd Waited to Have Sex

T he nonprofit coalition National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reports that a recent survey found two-thirds of teens who had sexual relations expressed regret at not having waited longer. Another finding was that parents, rather than friends, have more influence on teens’ decisions about sex, although adults do not believe they are influential in such matters.

The survey, conducted by telephone on 1,000 people ages 12-19 and 1,000 adults 20 or older, found that 77 percent of sexually experienced teenage girls and 60 percent of sexually experienced teenage boys wished they had postponed sexual activity.

Even with 100% Condom Use, One in Five Sexually-Active Teens Becomes Infected with a STD

A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health reports that even with 100 percent condom use, one in five sexually active teens became infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease within 28 months.

The study, "Value of Consistent Condom Use: A Study of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Among African American Adolescent Females" was conducted by Richard A. Crosby, PhD; Ralph J. DiClemente, PhD; Gina M. Wingood, ScD, MPH; Delia Lang, PhD; Kathy F. Harrington, MPH, MAEd.

According to the study’s findings, during a brief 28-month period, 17.8 percent—nearly one in five-- of teens reporting 100 percent condom use became newly infected with an STD. The study only examined three STDs and therefore does not reflect the possible acquisition of other STDs including HIV and the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer and cannot be prevented with condoms.

The study prospectively determined the association between African-American adolescent females’ condom use and their acquisition of three biologically confirmed infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, or Trichomonas vaginalis.

Among adolescents reporting 100 percent condom use, 17.8 percent had positive test results for one of the three STDs observed. By comparison, 30 percent of those reporting less than consistent condom use had positive test results. This difference was significant and remained significant after adjusting for whether adolescents had positive test results at baseline and the effects of having more than one sexual partner during the recall period.

Most Male College Students Use Condoms Incorrectly; One-third Report Condom Breakage or Slippage

A study published in Sexually Transmitted Diseases, the Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Disease Association found that an alarming number of male college students use condoms incorrectly, raising the risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases and the likelihood of unintended pregnancy.

Forty-three percent of study participants reported that in the preceding three months, they had put on a condom only after sex had begun, 15 percent said they removed the condom before sex was over, and 40 percent reported not leaving enough reservoir space at the condom’s tip, among other errors. "In all, at least half of the men in our survey made at least one mistake, some more serious than others," said Richard A. Crosby, an assistant professor at Emory University’s school of public health. "We saw more errors than even we anticipated."

The study’s results dismayed public health experts, but did not surprise college students. "All of my friends use condoms, and all talk about making the same stupid mistakes," said Alex Conte, 22, a fraternity brother and graduating senior at William Paterson University. "Most of the time, the guy’s drunk, he’s in the middle of having sex and only then remembers, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got to put that on.’ When you come right down to it, sex is a spur of the moment thing, and you don’t want to bother with a condom. You get a girl, and the last thing on your mind is stuff like remembering to squeeze the tip of the condom to leave enough space."

Of the men in his study, thirty percent reported putting on the condom upside down in the preceding three months at least once, then flipping it over and unrolling it properly. The problem is that semen or germs that touch the condom’s outer surface will then be introduced into his partner’s body. Sixty percent of the study participants said they had not discussed condom use with their partners before sex. One-third of the men in the study reported losing erections from condom use, and nearly one-third reported condom breakage or slippage during sex.

Abstinence advocates say the study underscores how uncertain condom use can be. Ever since AIDS gripped the nation, many health experts have called for consistent and correct condom use and the federal government has invested hundreds of millions annually in promoting “safe” sex. But many recent studies have shown that many who are sexually active are not using condoms correctly or consistently.

Sex, Not Needle Sharing, is Main Factor in HIV Infection for Men and Women Injection Drug Abusers

A ten-year study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and conducted by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore has found that the biggest predictor of HIV infection for both male and female injection drug users (IDUs) is sexual behavior, not sharing needles used to inject drugs. High risk homosexual activity was the most important factor in HIV transmission for men; high risk heterosexual activity was the most significant for women. Risky drug-use behaviors also were strong predictors of HIV transmission for men but were less significant for women, the study found.

“While needle exchange advocates have been arguing that needle distribution was the answer to ending HIV-infection among drug users it turns out their assumptions were wrong: Sexual behaviors rather than needle sharing are the most significant HIV risk behaviors for drug abusers,” Roland Foster, an aide for the U.S. Congress’ Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources noted. “And the more drugs someone does, the more likely they are to be infected. Needle distribution does nothing to address either of these risks, but rather contributes to the drug abuse that encourages both.”

TRENDS

State Laws Criminalize Transmission of HIV

According to the HIV Criminal Law and Policy Project, a program funded by the CDC involving researchers at five universities, 24 states have adopted laws that criminalize exposure or transmission of HIV under certain circumstances. Another 15 states, including California, have laws on the books that increase the penalties for crimes such as rape or prostitution if the perpetrator knows he or she is infected by the AIDS virus.

Youth STD Cases Soar

According to a study reported by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, sexually transmitted diseases have become so pervasive among the nation's youth that one out of every two sexually active young people can expect to become infected by age 25, a new report says. Young women are more at risk than young men because the infections can "silently" hide in the female reproductive tract.

Sexually active teens ages 15 to 19 have the highest STD rates of any age group, and nearly half of the 18.9 million new STD cases in 2000 were among youth ages 15 to 24, the study says. The 14 public health experts who prepared the report said the best ways to avoid infection are to abstain from sex or remain in a monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner.

The university's report is based on two new studies published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

One study about the prevalence of STDs estimates the number of new cases has risen from 15 million a year in 1996 to 18.9 million a year in 2000. Some 9.1 million of the new infections in 2000 occurred in those 15 to 24, and three diseases -- human papillomavirus (HPV), trichomoniasis and chlamydia -- accounted for 88 percent of the new infections, write Hillard Weinstock, Stuart Berman and Willard Cates Jr. Mr. Weinstock and Mr. Berman are officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of STD Prevention and Mr. Cates is a top official for Family Health International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

German Study Finds Condoms Contain Cancer-causing Substance

Most condoms contain a cancer-causing chemical and their manufacture should be subject to greater quality control, according to a study by the Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Institute in Stuttgart, Germany. The study found the carcinogen N-Nitrosamine present in 29 of 32 types of condoms it tested in simulated conditions.

"N-Nitrosamine is one of the most carcinogenic substances," the study's authors said. "There is a pressing need for manufacturers to tackle this problem." The carcinogen is thought to be present in a substance used to improve condom elasticity. When the rubber material comes in contact with human bodily fluids, it can release traces of N-Nitrosamine, the study said.

Germany 's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said that daily condom use exposed users to N-Nitrosamine levels up to three times higher than levels naturally present in food.

Teenage Pregnancy Rate Drops as Teenage Virginity Rate Rises

A ccording to a recent report released by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), in 2000, 83.6 in 1,000 women aged 15-19 became pregnant—a 28 percent decline from 1990, when the teenage pregnancy rate reached a high of 116.9 per 1,000 women. The report also details declines that also took place among all racial and ethnic groups and in every state in 2000. The teenage birth and abortion rates also declined between 1990 and 2000. (Pregnancies are calculated as the sum of births, miscarriages (including stillbirths) and abortions.)

In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the biannual Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. The survey, completed by adolescents across the country showed a dramatic increase in the percentage of teens who are abstaining from sexual activity. The percentage of teens reporting an abstinent life rose from 45.9 percent in 1991 to 54.4 percent in 2001. There was also a healthy increase in the percentage of teens who were once sexually active, but now abstain. New results from the 2003 survey are due to be released this summer.

In 2003, the scientific, peer-reviewed journal, Adolescent and Family Health published a report demonstrating that the majority of the decline in the teen pregnancy rate is due to abstinence. The report, "An Analysis of the Causes in the Decline in Non-marital Birth and Pregnancy Rates for Teens from 1991 to 1995," is the only peer-reviewed, published journal paper that examines scientifically, the causes of the drop in the pregnancy rate. Other explanations of the declines have not been independently been reviewed by other researchers and published in reputable scientific journals.

Women Impacted Most by Growing Number of U.S. HIV Infections Acquired Heterosexually

A ccording to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, thirty-five percent of all new HIV infections in the U.S. are acquired through heterosexual transmission. Eighty-four percent of heterosexually acquired HIV infections involved non-Hispanic blacks or Hispanics and most cases were in females. "Prevention and education programs targeting heterosexually active teens, especially females and persons in certain racial/ethnic populations should be developed," the CDC advises.

Sixty-four percent of the heterosexually transmitted cases occurred in females, the report indicates. In terms of age groups, people 30 to 39 years of age accounted for more than one third of such cases.

As noted, the majority of cases acquired through heterosexual contact involved minority ethnic groups. In contrast, the racial distribution of cases non-heterosexually acquired, such as by intravenous drug use or homosexual contact, was more equal.

Modes of Acquisition of HIV Among Men in the US Vary by Race, But Still Primarily through Sex with Men

A Kaiser report found that 73 percent of white men became infected through sex with other men, while 13 percent became infected through injection drug use- the two biggest categories of exposure. Five percent of white men were infected through heterosexual contact. Among black men, 43 percent became infected through sex with other men, 30 percent through contaminated needles and 21 percent through heterosexual contact.

One in Four Americans Infected with Herpes Virus, Most Unaware

According to a recent study, published in Sexually Transmitted Diseases , the Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Disease Association, of 36 primary care physician (PCP) offices in relatively affluent suburban areas of six U.S. cities, one in four people (25.5 percent) tested positive for the virus that causes genital herpes, despite the fact that only four percent of all those tested reported a history of the condition. As the study shows, genital herpes infection rates were high even among suburban, educated and mid-to-high income populations.

"Genital herpes continues to spread because very few people with the virus know they have it. The prevalence statistics are important for both patients and doctors because they show that people of all backgrounds are at high risk for contracting genital herpes. This is especially important because people can be contagious even when they do not have symptoms of infection," said Peter Leone, lead author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study took place at six randomly selected PCP offices in relatively affluent areas in each of six U.S. cities ( Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Denver). At each office, approximately 150 people age 18-59 were randomly chosen to participate. All blood samples were sent to a central laboratory.

The overall weighted HSV-2 seroprevalence was 25.5 percent -- that means 1 in 4 people tested positive for the virus that causes genital herpes. The seroprevalence ranged from 13.4 percent in the 18-29-year age group, to 25.2 percent (30-39 years), to 31.2 percent (40-49 years) and 28.0 percent (50-59 years). Seroprevalence among women (28.3 percent) was greater than that among men (22.0 percent), and was consistently higher across all age groups. Of the 1,387 people that tested positive for genital herpes, only 12 percent knew they were infected.

In 1991, an estimated 1 in 5, or 45 million, Americans were infected with the virus that causes genital herpes. Experts estimate that up to 60 million Americans are infected with the virus that causes genital herpes and the CDC estimates that approximately 1 million people are infected each year. However, as many as nine out of ten of those infected are unaware they have genital herpes and may only have experienced a mild initial outbreak without recognizing recurring symptoms of the disease. Symptoms of genital herpes may include painful or itchy clusters of blisters, bumps and rashes in the genital area, or on the thighs and buttocks.

PROGRAMS/CURRICULA

There are numerous effective abstinence programs being implemented throughout the US. The list presented below is a sampling of those curricula that have been used by successful programs throughout the US and abroad. IYD does not specifically endorse any of these programs, but merely references them as viable resources for your consideration. Some curricula are better suited to specific audiences. This should be factored into a decision to use a particular program. Furthermore, some curricula have been approved by State Title V funded programs.

Programs for Use in Public Schools or Community Organization:

The Art of Loving Well

Developed at Boston University and field- tested over four years by approximately one hundred teachers and ten thousand students in inner-city, suburban, and rural communities of Maine, Massachusetts, and South Caroline
Loving Well is designed for eighth grade English or health classes, but it has been used effectively with grades 7 - 12 in a wide variety of home, community, and classroom settings. The curriculum promotes the standard language arts skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and encourages coordination with other departments such as science, home economics, physical education, and guidance.
The Loving Well Project helps adolescents learn responsible sexual and social values through good literature, which reveals the complexity of life and love relationships.
The Art of Loving Well is a 340-page anthology of forty ethnically diverse selections, both time-honored classics and the best of contemporary adolescent literature, including short stories, poems, essays, drama, folk tales, and myths. The curriculum challenges academically gifted students, yet some of its most dramatic successes involve chronic low achievers.
A variety of creative classroom activities and homework assignments accompany each selection to accommodate the goals and styles of individual teachers. A twenty minute videotape featuring veteran teachers and students as well as a paperback Teacher Guide contain additional resource materials, biographical notes on the authors included in the anthology, and suggestions from four years of field testing. Teacher training workshops are also available.
Loving Well has been funded in part by the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and cited in Congress for its innovative and effective approach to character education.

Best Friends

Created by Elayne Bennett. Recommended for girls in grades 6-12.

A youth development program with a character-building curriculum for girls. Messages include abstinence from sex until marriage, illegal drug use and alcohol abuse. Best Friends is an in-school program conducted during the school day by educators who serve as instructors and mentors. Throughout the school year, each participant receives at least 110 hours of guidance and instruction.
The program’s success depends on the commitment level of the school guidance counselors or the mentors themselves.

The Choice Game

Created and produced by Several Sources Foundation
An abstinence-based interactive game targeted to grades 7, 8 and 9
Designed to reduce pre-marital sexual activity, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and teenage drug and alcohol abuse
The game uniquely allows students to decide which paths the game will take and then deal with the consequences of their choices

Choosing the Best

A research-based, medical learning model that motivates students through relationship education, refusal-skill coaching, character education, and parent-teen interviews. Age based curricula include:
Choosing the Best Life [ Grades 9-12] Empowering teens to form healthy, positive relationships, 8 sessions dynamically reinforce abstinence through real-life teen stories and role-play.
Choosing the Best Path [ Grades 7-8] Challenging enough to keep middle-schoolers’ attention, 8 sessions cover the myths of “safe” sex and the benefits of abstinence.
Choosing the Best Way [Grades 6-7] Reinforced by posters and activities, these 6 lessons teach how to make decisions, assess relationships, and choose abstinence

El Plan de Juego

Created by Project Reality. Recommended for grades 7 - 9
The Spanish Edition of the Game Plan curriculum, developed in cooperation with NBA Basketball star A.C. Green. El Plan de Juego offers the same sports-themed approach to understanding the benefits of abstinence until marriage as its English counterpart.

Free Teens 17 Lesson RQ: Relationship Intelligence Training Curriculum

Created by Richard Panzer under Free Teens USA.
A reality-based, abstinence-centered HIV/AIDS, STDs, and Pregnancy Prevention program used in 38 states, and in more than 70 countries around the world. It has been translated into 12 languages. The Curriculum includes:
Free Teens "Talking with Teens about HIV and AIDS" Slide/PowerPoint Presentation
Student Discussion and Role-playing Activities
"After the Sexual Revolution" presentation discussing consequences of the Sexual Revolution, Family Breakdown and the Impact on Children; The Benefits of Marriage
"Sex and Love: teaching our children" Overview of Sex Ed. for parents and teachers.
How to establish Free Teens clubs in your community
The curriculum uses an interactive approach including “self-inventory” exercises and student journal questions for personal reflection. It calls upon the power of stories by drawing on selections of past and present authors including E. B. White, Tolstoy, O’Henry, and Stephen Covey, as well as contemporary song writers and heartrending confessions in letters to Ann Landers.

Friends First STARS Mentoring Program

Created by Friends First as a supplement to support your current abstinence curriculum.
The program goals include the provision of ongoing mentoring and support for youth grades 5 - 12.
This model helps to encourage abstinence from all high risk behaviors including premarital sex, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Game Plan

Created by Project Reality. Recommended for grades 7 - 9
A curriculum developed in cooperation with NBA Basketball star A.C. Green, uses a sports-themed approach to understanding the benefits of abstinence until marriage.
Features a user-friendly, positive approach to abstinence. A highly effective tool for helping teens formulate a game plan for their future by choosing abstinence until marriage.
Game Plan is an eight session curriculum with student workbook and teacher's manual.

Heritage Keepers

Developed by Heritage Community Services, HK Abstinence Education I & II features two 450 minute abstinence curricula, providing adolescents with an introduction to abstinence, including information on secondary virginity, the risks of sexually transmitted diseases, and the benefits of marriage
HK Life Skills I – V teaches adolescents the skills needed to abstain from sex outside of marriage and other risky behaviors, and to pursue positive goals. Topics include distinguishing between thoughts and feelings, thoughts and actions, importance of personal values, goals and boundaries, self –control, decision-making skills and responsibility to self, family and community
Community Component engages member of the community and encourages them to become abstinence advocates. Activities include establishment of local Family Assets and Character Councils, and the Parent, Faith and Media Components

I Can Do That!

Created by Project Reality. Recommended for grades 4 - 7
A gentle way to introduce ten virtues to our young people who are starved for knowledge of a better, more successful way to live.
Through original short stories and verses, these virtues are illustrated as active agents in the lives of the readers' peers. Student response during pilot testing indicates that the characters are believable, and middle school students can relate to them.
But the text is more than stories and poems! Included in each unit are pre- and post-reading discussion questions and activities that move readers beyond who-did-what-when.
Finally, a chart concluding each unit guides readers in identifying the illustrated virtues and in thinking about applications - and benefits - for their own lives.

Navigator

Created by Project Reality. Recommended for grades 9 - 12
A high school text designed to help teens develop their goals and dreams and to resist negative pressure to engage in sexual activity and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Uses a positive approach to help students set a course for their future.
Helps teens consider the significant benefits of choosing abstinence until marriage in the face of our society's increasingly sexualized images and messages.
Offers abstinence as a choice for all students - including those who have already experienced the difficult consequences of sexual activity prior to marriage
Navigator is an eight-session curriculum with student workbook and teacher's manual

No Apologies, The Truth About Life, Love and Sex (Public School Version)

Created by Focus on the Family
This curriculum is character-based and promotes abstinence, discusses the consequences of premarital sexual activity and teaches refusal skills to withstand peer pressure.
Includes a curriculum guide, video and other visual aids.

Operation Keepsake

“For Keeps” provides interactive, age-appropriate, medically accurate information to students at the elementary, middle, high school and college levels
Designed for a five-day, one hour per day classroom presentation
Focuses on three key elements -- personal efficacy, future orientation, and personal value system, while emphasizing the importance of developing good character as a worthy life-long pursuit

Sex and Character

Created by Maureen Duran and Deborah Cole. Recommended for grades 9 through college.
A supplemental student textbook that uses character development as an essential basis for teaching abstinence. It discusses the physical and emotional dangers of sexual activity; the relationship between sex and love; the benefits of saving sex for marriage and the skills, strategies, and character strengths needed to abstain from premature sexual activity.
Published by Foundation for Thought and Ethics
Curriculum includes student textbook, teachers guide and visual aids.

Sex Respect: The Option of True Sexual Freedom

Created by Colleen Kelly Mast. Recommended for grades 8 - 9
A curriculum that teaches teens that sexual self-control can bring them freedom, confidence, maturity and good health. The focus is on abstinence, not on contraception.
Written for 8th and 9th grade readers, the SEX RESPECT® textbooks are now successfully being used in grades 7, 8, 9 and 10. Some schools are repeating the course in two years since the level of understanding and experience is enhanced with increased age.
The SEX RESPECT® curriculum includes three textbooks: a student workbook, a parent guidebook, and a teacher manual

Teen –Aid Inc.

Maturing in Body and Character, developed for grades 5-6, teaches character development to improve social skills, develop strong internal control, and build thinking skills for positive decision making and problem solving. The development of these skills provides the foundation to enable young people to act with the character necessary to achieve each of the A-H (of the Personal Responsibility Act) pieces of abstinence education as legislated by Congress.
Me, My World, My Future, developed for grades 6 - 9, contains 18 sequential lessons and is meant to be taught as a directive Family Life Education curriculum. A parent component is included.
Sexuality, Commitment and Family, developed for grades 9 -11, strongly supports the family and fully emphasizes the deep meaning of sexuality in the context of the family, self respect, respect for others, and respect and love for one’s future spouse and children.

True Love Thing To Do

Written by Peter Falkenberg Brown. Recommended for teenagers from ages 13 to 19 and also for young adults in their 20s.
Published by The World Community Network
A campaign started by the World Community Network to educate teenagers all over the world with the "True Love Thing to Do" marriage preparation, abstinence and character education curriculum. The curriculum is available for retail and wholesale purchase and can be translated into many languages.
The curriculum consists of:
the Seminar Workbook
the True Love Thing to Do Pledge
a Graduation Certificate
Access to the Members Section of the True Love Thing to Do website (coming soon)
a "True Love Thing to Do" T-Shirt (optional)

WAIT Training

Developed cooperatively by FRIENDS FIRST and Joneen Krauth. Recommended for Middle and High School students.
WAIT (Why Am I Tempted?) Training is a revised and updated curriculum that teaches teens how to have the BEST sex...by waiting until and in preparation for marriage.
An interactive skills-based, character, relationship, abstinence and marriage preparation program designed for middle and high school students.
Culturally sensitive, medically accurate, researched-based and age appropriate. It is used internationally in public, private and alternative schools. The curriculum accommodates a variety of presentation settings (middle and high school classrooms school assemblies, boys/girls club events, crisis pregnancy classes, parents workshops and community seminars)
Focuses on relationship and love education rather than sex education. Teens need the skills to have successful and satisfying healthy relationships especially if they have not seen what healthy successful, stable relationships look like. There is now social science data that teaches us what enhances and helps relationships grow and thrive and what behaviors contribute to the destruction of relationships.

Weaving Character Into Sex Education

Created by Pat Socia. Recommended for high school and college students.
Published by Project Reality
A curriculum for sexuality educators, parents and college students cements virtue, character education and sexuality together. The curriculum incorporates anecdotes from students, research and reasoning to develop an understandable approach to teaching character within sex education.

Created by Kris Frainie. Recommended for grades 6-12
Assists teens to kNOw how to respect their sexuality, the benefits of saving sex for marriage, the facts about STDs, the ins and outs of peer pressure, how to plan a great date and the hope of Secondary Virginity
This interactive, user friendly, grade-appropriate resource features 20 abstinence-until-marriage lessons. It includes 21 color/black & white transparencies, 20 STD slides, and numerous photo-ready handouts.

Faith-Based Programs

Friends First Quinceañera Mentoring Program

Created by Friends First.
The Program includes 24 hours of mentoring and educational activities for Hispanic adolescent females ages 11– 14 and their families.
This faith based collaborative includes a community service component, peer accountability, abstinence education, and a graduation celebration as a culminating activity.
The Program implements strategies documented in the literature and focus group data to ensure cultural competency by building on the traditions of the ancient Hispanic rites of passage known as Quinceañera.
The curriculum includes a Leader's Guide, all of the materials for the classes, as well as manuals for parents and the Quinceañera.

KISSN

Christian Version ( Public School Version also available)
Created by Lola Widener. Recommended for grades 6 through 8.
Keep It Simple, Say No (KISSN) is a four-part curriculum which includes information on who created sex, how sex has been misused, fetal development, dating and peer pressure, myths about sex, secondary virginity and a challenge to commit to abstinence.
Incorporates visual aids, and experiential learning games.

Love and Life

Created by Colleen Kelly Mast. Recommended for use with teens ages 12 to 17.
May be used with any Jr. High or High School curriculum.
The Student Text/Workbook is divided into 4 units, which may be learned during a week or a month, or longer, depending on your individual curriculum needs.
The Teacher's Guide includes comprehensive notes and a complete duplication of the student text, making it easier to correlate both notes and text. Also included are specific lesson objectives, helpful suggestions for the exercises and suggested readings.
The Parent's Guide provides an informative overview of the entire course with an easy to understand explanation of Catholic teaching on sexual morality. Included are: helpful suggestions for exercises, communication, and family activities; specific lesson objectives, practical answers to today's problems; benefits of chastity education in the home, and recommended readings.

The New Corinthians Curriculum

Recommended for Catholic Schools
A curriculum published by the Foundation for the Family for grades K - 8 to enable students to develop a relationship with God so that they can make decisions on the basis of sound scriptural and catechetical understanding.
It is designed to assist parents in their formation of chaste children.

PHAT STAR

Created by Dr. Rene Rochester under UrbanSET
PHAT STAR is an acronym for Preventive Holistic Adolescent Training Saving Teens At Risk.
The curriculum has a theoretical underpinning with general field-tested principles. The goal of in-service training is to imbue educators with knowledge and understanding of an ecological model of prevention that is developmentally and culturally appropriate.
Effective in reaching inner city teen aged youth.

Project Genesis Series

Recommended for Catholic Schools
This Catholic program was developed in Omaha, Nebraska and was designed for education in chastity.
The program is organized around three topics: theology, health and relationships. There are student texts and teacher manuals as well as workshops for parents and students.

True Love Waits

Created by Jimmy Hester and Richard Ross
Published by LifeWay Christian Resources
Begun as a way to help motivate students to live a life of purity, instead of giving in to peer pressure, True Love Waits created a national stir when thousands of teens pledged sexual abstinence until marriage. It has gone international with its message and continues to provide materials for interested churches and youth groups.
Already more than a million young people have signed TLW covenant cards. By doing so, they’re promising to remain sexually abstinent until marriage … to wait for their true love.
Now there’s a whole new generation of teens and ‘tweens that are or will soon be facing the same pressures and tough, personal decisions. For them, LifeWay’s created a simple resource that explains the biblical call to sexual purity and introduces the TLW Pledge. Pre-packaged in bundles of five, this resource is ideal for use with new 7th graders, new Christians, or for youth at churches that are new to True Love Waits.

True Love Waits Goes Home Manual

Published by LifeWay Christian Resources
This new resource directs churches and student organizations to help families connect or reconnect with God and understand and live His principles in their lives. And whether students get involved on a local or national level, the True Love Waits Goes Home Manual will take leaders step-by-step through the entire process.

Christian School Version
This series of ten biblically based lessons includes 16 color/black & white transparencies and 20 STD slides.
Designed for middle and high school students, this course is suitable for Sunday School, youth groups or retreat settings.