| 1 out of 3 sexually active girls become pregnant by age 20. |  |  |
8th Grade Curriculum
Day 2 – STDs and Refusal Skills
Purpose: Students will become familiar with the major S.T.D.’s and the health risks involved. Students will understand, in regards to healthy relationships, why it is important to have a stopping point before things go further than intended.
Ex-Lax/Hershey bar activity: Invite four students to the front of the classroom. Hand each student a wrapped up piece of chocolate. Tell students that they are going to play a game. If they choose to unwrap their piece of chocolate, they have to eat it. Then explain that three of the four pieces are Hershey’s chocolate and one is chocolate ex-lax. Relate the statistic that one in four sexually active teens will get an S.T.D. this year. If they have sex, they don’t get to choose the consequences. If students choose not to play the game and don’t unwrap their chocolate they are rewarded with a big Hershey bar. (Teacher will not let any student eat the ex-lax).
Safe Sex? Statistics: Students are shown that abstinence is the only 100% effective means of preventing the transmission of STDs or unplanned pregnancies.
Day 3 -- The Marriage Standard, Sexual Consequences, and How Far is Too Far?
Handcuff activity – Have seven students of one sex come to the front of the classroom and one student of the opposite sex. Handcuff the seven students to the one student of opposite sex. Give students the statistic that most fall in love on average 5 – 7 times before finding the one that they will marry. Discuss what it may look like even if you only have sex with people you fall in love with. Tell students they are creating a bond with the person they have sex with. Also discuss that you are exposed to everyone that that person has had sex with. Talk about the student’s wedding day and how they are still bonded to those that they have had sex with in the past. Ask students what they want to bring into their marriage relationship.
Rose activity – Take one single red rose and talk about the qualities and significance of a rose. Pass the rose around the entire classroom and have each student pull one petal off of the rose. After the rose has circulated through the class, hold it up to show students what is left. Discuss how the rose loses its value when many pieces of it have been given away. Discuss with students how during a sexual relationship you give a piece of yourself away. You may begin to feel like the rose, without value. No matter what has happened in a student’s past, he or she may start over. Take out another single rose and talk about how students may be restored and healed from past mistakes.
Sexual Progression - Using a picture of a kayaker going down a river, analogies are made to sexual progression. The goal is for students to understand that as a kayaker gets into swifter waters it becomes more difficult for him to stop or turn around. In the same way with relationships you don't want to put yourself into situations that become more difficult to stop.
Purpose: Students will understand the different aspects of a healthy relationship. Students will be familiar with ways to stay safe in the technology era.
$20 Bill activity – Have four student volunteers come to the front of the room. Define the word intimacy as it relates to the level of closeness in a relationship, not physical intimacy. Teacher will describe different levels of relationship with each of the four volunteers. Each volunteer needs to borrow the $20 that the teacher has. Which one will teacher lend the $20 to? Have the students think about the words trust and commitment. Which relationship are trust and commitment going to be found in? Have class come to the conclusion it is the student with which the teacher has the most intimate relationship. Then segue into discussing trust and commitment in marriage and how that is the only safe way to have sex.
Traditional Bases: Traditional bases of sexual progression are acknowledged.
Heartbox Activity - In this activity five students will open a box that exemplifies the heart. Each box they open will convey the progression of a healthy relationship. These aspects include, friendship, trust, love, and commitment.
New Bases: The progression of a healthy relationship is depicted as "new" bases, to replace the traditional bases.
No Jerks: Students will learn that entering a healthy relationship requires examining the moral character of the other person. We will learn the 5 characteristics of a person or relationship that can help you avoid "jerks": Truth, Relationship Patterns, Unity, Skills, (Family) Tree.
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