# data[].attributes.body
Planned Parenthood is an invaluable resource for sexual education courses and remains one of the most important leader in assisting males and females in their reproductive health.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a nonprofit organization that provides sexual health care in the United States and globally.

# data[].attributes.body
It's incredibly important for children to learn about the dangers of sex and engaging in sexual activity due to STD's and it's incredibly important to make children aware of this and of how to avoid and prevent it from happening to them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - Information from CDC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Information, statistics, and treatment guidelines for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) from CDC's Division of STD Prevention

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Importance Of Sex Education for Teenagers

# data[].attributes.body
It's extremely important for young girls to learn about their bodies and what to expect once they reach the age where they may not have anyone to explain it to them or who can, and sex education can provide some answers to their questions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Knowledge about menstrual hygiene, sexual health, and contraception in educated late adolescent age girls

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Adolescents are future generation of our country. It is a vulnerable age making them susceptible to many health issues such as reproductive tract infections because of improper menstrual hygiene, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), human immunodeficiency…

# data[].attributes.body
All methods of birth control should be taught in sexual education classes as well as be given options for resources to access them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Birth Control Methods

Many elements need to be considered by women, men, or couples at any given point in their lifetimes when choosing the most appropriate contraceptive method. These elements include safety, effectiveness, availability (including accessibility and affordability), and acceptability. Voluntary informed choice of contraceptive methods is an essential guiding principle, and contraceptive counseling, when applicable, might be an important contributor to the successful use of contraceptive methods.

In choosing a method of contraception, dual protection from the simultaneous risk for HIV and other STDs also should be considered. Although hormonal contraceptives and IUDs are highly effective at preventing pregnancy, they do not protect against STDs, including HIV. Consistent and correct use of the male latex condom reduces the risk for HIV infection and other STDs, including chlamydial infection, gonococcal infection, and trichomoniasis.

Reversible Methods of Birth Control

Intrauterine Contraception

Levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG IUD)-The LNG IUD is a small T-shaped device like the Copper T IUD. It is placed inside the uterus by a doctor. It releases a small amount of progestin each day to keep you from getting pregnant. The LNG IUD stays in your uterus for up to 3 to 8 years, depending on the device. Typical use failure rate: 0.1-0.4%. ¹

Copper T intrauterine device (IUD)-This IUD is a small device that is shaped in the form of a "T." Your doctor places it inside the uterus to prevent pregnancy. It can stay in your uterus for up to 10 years. Typical use failure rate: 0.8%. ¹

Fertility Awareness-Based Methods

Fertility awareness-based methods-Understanding your monthly fertility patternexternal icon can help you plan to get pregnant or avoid getting pregnant. Your fertility pattern is the number of days in the month when you are fertile (able to get pregnant), days when you are infertile, and days when fertility is unlikely, but possible. If you have a regular menstrual cycle, you have about nine or more fertile days each month. If you do not want to get pregnant, you do not have sex on the days you are fertile, or you use a barrier method of birth control on those days. Failure rates vary across these methods. 1-2 Range of typical use failure rates: 2-23%. 1

Lactational Amenorrhea Methods

For women who have recently had a baby and are breastfeeding, the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) can be used as birth control when three conditions are met: 1) amenorrhea (not having any menstrual periods after delivering a baby), 2) fully or nearly fully breastfeeding, and 3) less than 6 months after delivering a baby. LAM is a temporary method of birth control, and another birth control method must be used when any of the three conditions are not met.

Emergency Contraception

Emergency contraception is NOT a regular method of birth control. Emergency contraception can be used after no birth control was used during sex, or if the birth control method failed, such as if a condom broke.

Copper IUD -Women can have the copper T IUD inserted within five days of unprotected sex.

Emergency contraceptive pills -Women can take emergency contraceptive pills up to 5 days after unprotected sex, but the sooner the pills are taken, the better they will work. There are three different types of emergency contraceptive pills available in the United States. Some emergency contraceptive pills are available over the counter.

Permanent Methods of Birth Control

References

Trussell J, Aiken ARA, Micks E, Guthrie KA. Efficacy, safety, and personal considerations. In: Hatcher RA, Nelson AL, Trussell J, Cwiak C, Cason P, Policar MS, Edelman A, Aiken ARA, Marrazzo J, Kowal D, eds. Contraceptive technology. 21st ed. New York, NY: Ayer Company Publishers, Inc., 2018.

Resources for Providers

CDC Contraceptive Guidance for Health Care Providers

U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use ( US MEC), U.S. Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use ( US SPR) and Providing Quality Family Services ( QFP) can assist health care providers when they counsel women, men, and couples about contraceptive method choice and family planning services.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Birth control methods, reversible and permanent, and resources.

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching children and those going through the education system and eventually sex education need to learn about healthy relationships and what respect and love look like in areas that culture and society may tell them different.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why schools and families need to talk about relationships, caring, and consent as part of a comprehensive approach to sex ed

Historically, the measure of a good sex education program has been in the numbers: marked decreases in the rates of sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancies, and pregnancy-related drop-outs. But, increasingly, researchers, educators, and advocates are emphasizing that sex ed should focus on more than physical health. Sex education, they say, should also be about relationships.

Giving students a foundation in relationship-building and centering the notion of care for others can enhance wellbeing and pave the way for healthy intimacy in the future, experts say. It can prevent or counter gender stereotyping and bias. And it could minimize instances of sexual harassment and assault in middle and high school - instances that may range from cyberbullying and stalking to unwanted touching and nonconsensual sex. A recent study from Columbia University's Sexual Health Initative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) project suggests that comprehensive sex education protects students from sexual assault even after high school.

If students become more well-practiced in thinking about caring for one another, they'll be less likely to commit - and be less vulnerable to - sexual violence, according to this new approach to sex ed. And they'll be better prepared to engage in and support one another in relationships, romantic and otherwise, going forward.

Giving students a foundation in relationship-building can enhance wellbeing and pave the way for healthy intimacy in the future, experts say. It can also prevent or counter gender stereotyping, and it could minimize instances of sexual harassment and assault in middle and high school.

Introducing Ethics Into Sex Ed

Diving into a conversation even tangentially related to sex with a group of 20 or so high school students isn't easy. Renee Randazzo helped researcher Sharon Lamb pilot the Sexual Ethics and Caring Curriculum while a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She recalls boys snickering during discussions about pornography and objectification. At first, it was hard for students to be vulnerable.

But the idea behind the curriculum is that tough conversations are worth having. Simply teaching students how to ask for consent isn't enough, says Lamb, a professor of counseling psychology at UMass Boston, who has been researching the intersection between caring relationships, sex, and education for decades. Students also to have understand why consent is important and think about consent in a variety of contexts. At the heart of that understanding are questions about human morality, how we relate to one another, and what we owe to one another. In other words, ethics.

"When I looked at what sex ed was doing, it wasn't only a problem that kids weren't getting the right facts," Lamb says. "It was a problem that they weren't getting the sex education that would make them treat others in a caring and just way."

She became aware that when schools were talking about consent - if they were at all - it was in terms of self-protection. The message was: Get consent so you don't get in trouble.

But there's more at play, Lamb insists. Students should also understand the concept of mutuality - making decisions with a partner and understanding and addressing other people's concerns or wishes - and spend time developing their own sense of right and wrong.

"If a young person is not in a healthy relationship, they can't negotiate sex in a meaningful way. Even if they're not having sex yet, they're grappling with the idea of what a healthy relationship is."

The curriculum she developed invites students to engage in frank discussions about topics like objectification in the media and sexting. If a woman is shamed for being in a sexy video, but she consented to it, does she deserve the criticism? Regardless of what you think, can you justify your position?

"How do they want to treat people, what kind of partner do they want to be? That takes discussion," Lamb says. "It's not a skill-training thing."

The idea behind the curriculum isn't that anything goes, so long as students can discuss their reasoning. Instead, the goal is that students develop the critical-reasoning skills to do the right thing in tricky situations.

After Randazzo's students got over their cases of the giggles, the conversations were eye-opening, she says. "You give them the opportunity unpack their ideas and form their own opinions," she says.

Healthy Relationships - and Prevention

Most sexual assault and violence in schools is committed by people who know their victims - they're either dating, friends, or classmates. Regardless, they have a relationship of some sort, which is why a focus on relationships and empathy is crucial to reducing violence and preparing students for more meaningful lives.

And while it might seem uncomfortable to move beyond the cut-and-dried facts of contraception into the murkier waters of relationships, students are hungry for it. A survey by researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Making Caring Common initiative found that 65 percent of young-adult respondents wished they had talked about relationships at school.

"It's so critical that kids are able to undertake this work of learning to love somebody else," says developmental psychologist Richard Weissbourd, the director of Making Caring Common and lead author of a groundbreaking report called The Talk: How Adults Can Promote Young People's Healthy Relationships and Prevent Misogyny and Sexual Harassment. "They're not going to be able to do it unless we get them on the road and are willing to engage in thoughtful conversations."

Nicole Daley works with OneLove, a nonprofit focused on teen violence prevention. She previously worked extensively with Boston Public Schools on violence prevention. She echoes Lamb and Weissbourd: A focus on relationships is key to keeping students safe.

"If a young person is not in a healthy relationship, they can't negotiate sex in a meaningful way," she says. "Really discussing healthy relationships and building that foundation is important. Even if they're not having sex yet, they're grappling with the idea of what healthy relationship is."

And it's critical to start that work before college.

Act Now

Shael Norris spent the first two decades of her career focusing on college campuses, but now is focused on younger students with her work through Safe BAE. By college, many people's ideas about how to act when it comes to sex or romance are entrenched, she says. The earlier young people can start interrogating what they know about sex and relationships, the better.

Safe BAE is led by Norris and young survivors of sexual assault. The organization works to educate students about healthy relationships, sexual violence, students' rights under Title IX, and other related topics.

Movement to change middle and high school curricula to include a focus on healthy relationships and consent has been slow, Norris notes. In 2015, Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced the Teach Safe Relationships Act, which would have mandated secondary schools teach about safe relationships, including asking for consent, in health education courses. It didn't go anywhere. And while eight states now mandate some sort of sexual consent education, there's no consensus about what that should entail.

Instead, the momentum for a more comprehensive sexual education that considers relationships and violence prevention is coming from individual teachers, students and parents.

"We don't have to wait for politicians to start having conversations about this," Norris says.

A New Approach to Sex Ed

Develop an ethical approach to sex ed. Place emphasis on helping students learn how to care for and support one another. This will reduce the chance they'll commit, or be vulnerable to, sexual violence.

Don't just tell students how to ask for consent; prompt them to consider why concepts like consent are important. It's not just about staying out of legal trouble - it's also about respecting and caring for others.

Respect students' intelligence and engage them in discussions about who they want to be as people. Serious dialogue about complicated topics will hone their critical-thinking skills and help them be prepared to do the right thing.

Even without access to a curriculum, students, parents and educators can work together to facilitate conversations around sexual violence prevention through clubs, with help from organizations like Safe BAE.

Part of a special series about preventing sexual harassment at school. Read the whole series. Illustration by Wilhelmina Peragine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why schools and families need to talk about relationships, caring, and consent as part of a comprehensive approach to sex ed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why sex education will save the world | Rayne Fisher-Quann | TEDxKitchenerED

# data[].attributes.body
Puberty, sexual orientation and even gender identities are some of the questions and topics that are spoken about during sex education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Schools have a unique opportunity to positively influence students through educating, role modeling, and creating healthy and supportive learning environments.

What Works?

The promotion of sexual health in schools is best achieved by:
Understanding Sexual Health Concepts

Allocating sufficient classroom time to teaching the topic.

Using the Information Behaviour Motivation (IBM) model.

Engaging students in planning and delivering of information (Hart's Ladder).

Encouraging the role of peer education. Note: peer educators should be well-trained, carefully supervised and be aware of the differences between a supportive role and professional counselling.

Sexual health education is linked to other relevant curricular objectives and age-appropriate learning outcomes.

Consistently offering education from the beginning of elementary school to the end of secondary school.

Presenting information in an age-appropriate manner in a safe, caring, inclusive, and non-judgemental environment.

Helping students to focus on self-worth, respect, and dignity of the individual.

Providing education on: developmental changes (e.g. puberty), rewarding interpersonal relationships, challenging of stereotypes, prevention of STI/HIV, effective contraception methods, sexual assault/coercion, sexual orientation, gender identity, evolving gender roles and expectations.

Making Positive Sexual Healthy Choices

Specifically targeting the behaviours that lead to negative sexual health outcomes (e.g. STI/HIV infection, unintended pregnancy).

Teaching critical media skills to interpret and assess the sexual imagery on the internet and to differentiate between credible and problematic sources of information.

Supporting informed decision making by providing students with the knowledge, personal insight, motivation, and behavioural skills that are consistent with each individual's personal values and choices.

Making Community Connections to Health Services

Provide opportunities for students to think about their choices and sexual readiness, practice condom use negotiation, and other communication and decision making skills.

Addressing the impact that behaviours and actions have on others (e.g. concept of consent).

Combining sexual health education with access to clinical services, counselling and social services and support from family, peers and the community.

Resources to support implementation can be found in the sections below. Educators may also contact their School's Public Health Nurse for additional support and consultation.

Resources

Resources to support implementation can be found in the Healthy Schools Programs and Services Guide. Educators may also contact their School's Public Health Nurse for additional support and consultation.

For more information, visit our Sexual Health and Healthy Pregnancy web pages.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Human Development & Sexual Health - Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Schools have a unique opportunity to positively influence students through educating, role modeling, and creating healthy and supportive learning environments. What Works? The promotion of sexual health in schools is best achieved by: Understanding Sexual Health Concepts Making Positive Sexual Healthy Choices Making Community Connections to Health Services Resources to support implementation can be found...