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RESOURCES FOR PARENTS/CAREGIVERS

Research shows that positive communication between parents/caregivers and their children can help young people make healthy choices. Sexuality educators can help support parents/caregivers by providing workshops to train parents on how to be an “askable” adult. This excerpt, reprinted with permission from the It’s That Easy: A Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Children 200-page Parent Manual provides a sample outline and all materials for sexuality educators to host a two-hour parent/caregiver workshop. Advocates for Youth also maintains a Parents’ Sex Ed Center with helpful information, fact sheets, tips and recommendations to enable parents to be the primary sexuality educator for their children.

Guidance for Nesting Evidence-Based Interventions in 3Rs Curriculum
Evidence-based interventions (EBIs) are targeted programs with a specific goal of preventing or reducing rates of teen pregnancy. As such they are generally limited to one or two grade levels and have an exclusive focus on the skills needed to successfully impact behavior to achieve this outcome. Some states and federal programs require the use of EBIs while others select to use them given their past success at impacting a specific behavioral outcome. There is no debate though that these specific, targeted programs aimed at changing behavior are not the same as comprehensive sexuality education, which by definition is K-12, age-appropriate, foundational, culturally relevant and fully inclusive by design. We, at Advocates for Youth, believe these two approaches can be complimentary since the core concepts about sexuality – healthy relationships, effective communication, setting and respecting others’ boundaries and basic anatomy – are critical yet often not part of EBIs. Click here for guidance on how to “nest” five of the most popular EBIs within Advocates’ Rights, Respect, Responsibility K-12 curriculum.

Assessment Questions

Grade K-2

By the End of Grade 2 | Healthy Relationships

Q: Do all families look exactly the same?

A: No

Q: Circle all of the examples of different ways families might be put together:

a. different numbers of children in the family
b. Parents of the same gender or parents of different genders
c. Step parents or step children
d. members of the family look alike or look different from each other
e. Children living with a grandparent

A:a, b, c, d, e

HR.2.CC.1 Identify different kinds of family structures.
K Different Kinds of Families

 

By the End of Grade 2 | Identity

Q: Should children be expected to behave certain ways based on their gender (being a boy or a girl)?

A: No

Q: Circle all of the examples of ways people sometimes expect children to behave based on their gender:

a. Boys play sports
b. Children should be nice to each other
c. Girls like to play princess
d. Boys and girls like to laugh

A:a and c

Q: Is it okay for children of any gender to play baseball?

A: Yes

Q: Is it okay for children of any gender to play with dolls?

A: Yes

ID.2.CC.1 Describe differences and similarities in how boys and girls may be expected to act.
1 Gender Roles

By the End of Grade 2 | Personal Safety

Q: Circle the letters next to the types of trusted adults a child could tell if someone teased or bullied them or touched them in a way that made the child feel uncomfortable or yucky.

a. A parent or guardian
b. A friend in school
c. A teacher
d. A school nurse
e. A school principal
f. they shouldn’t tell anyone. they should keep it a secret.

A:a, c, d, e

PS.2.A1.1 Identify parents and other trusted adults they can tell if they are feeling uncomfortable about being touched.
PS.2.A1.2 Identify parents and other trusted adults they can tell if they are being bullied or teased.
2 Seeking Help

By the End of Grade 5 | Personal Safety

Q: What are two strategies a person could use to communicate if they are feeling bullied or harassed?

a. Say, “I’m leaving” or “You can’t treat me like that.”
b. Say, “You’re going to get in trouble for treating me like this.” or tell your friend
c. Say, “Please stop being so mean.” or write down what’s happened in a journal
d. Say, “My mom is going to get you in trouble” or scream at them

A:a

PS.5.IC.1 Demonstrate ways to communicate about how one is being treated.
3 Teasing, Harassment and Bullying

 

By the End of Grade 5 | Puberty & Adolescent Development

Q: Circle the letters next to physical changes that occur during puberty.

a. A person gets better balance
b. A person gets better at math
c. A person gets taller
d. Menstruation begins in female bodies
e. A person grows hair under their arms and around their genitals

A: c, d, e

PD.5.CC.1 Students will be able to explain the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur during puberty and adolescence.
4 Making Sense of Puberty

By the End of Grade 5 | Puberty & Adolescent Development

Q: Circle the letters next to the types of trusted adults a child could go to either to answer a question about puberty or to help find a website, book or magazine that has the answer.

a. A parent or guardian
b. A doctor
c. A teacher
d. A school nurse
e. A librarian

A:a, b, c, d, e

PD.5.AI.2 Identify parents or other trusted adults of whom students can ask questions about puberty and adolescent health issues.
4 Making Sense of Puberty

By the End of Grade 5 | Healthy Relationships

Q: Write a “t” for true next to examples of healthy relationships and “F” for False next to examples of unhealthy relationships. (From Healthy and unhealthy Relationships Quiz from the grade 4 lesson, Figuring out Friendships. Have students complete these individually, rather than in pairs, and put their names on them).

A: Based on the answer key, student should be able to identify the characteristics of Healthy and unhealthy relationships with no more than 3 incorrect responses.

HR.5.CC.1 describe the characteristics of healthy relationships.
4 Figuring Out Friendships

 

By the End of Grade 5 | Personal Safety

Q: Circle the letters next to examples of sexual abuse

a. An adult touches a child’s genitals and tells the child to keep it a secret
b. An adult forces a child to touch the adult’s genitals
c. A doctor touches a child’s genitals as part of a health exam and the child’s parent or other adult family member is in the exam room.
d. A child touches their own genitals.

A: a, b

 

Q: Circle the letters next to examples of sexual harassment.

a. A teenager keeps telling a fifth grader that they are “really sexy” and that they want to kiss them even though the fifth grader has told them to stop many times.
b. A student pays a classmate a compliment one day by telling them that they like their new haircut.
c. A group of children keep whispering “gay” under their breath every time they pass one of their classmates in the hallway
d. An adult neighbor loves to watch a middle schooler walk to the bus every morning and shouts out: “i can’t wait until you are older so i can marry you” making the student nervous every time they have to pass the neighbor’s house.

A: a, c, d

PS.5.CC.2 Define sexual harassment and sexual abuse.
4 Your Body, Your Rights

 

By the End of Grade 5 | Anatomy & Physiology

Q: Check the box that correctly identifies who has each part. Put the letter from the list on the back of the sheet that correctly identifies the description or main function for each part. (From Body Parts homework in grade 5 lesson Sexual and Reproductive Anatomy):

A: Based on the answer sheet from the Body Parts worksheet, student should be able to identify correctly at least 2 parts each of the male and female anatomy and at least 2 functions of each the male and female parts.

AP.5.CC.1 Describe male and female reproductive systems including body parts and their functions.
5 Sexual and Reproductive Anatomy

 

By the End of Grade 5 | Anatomy & Physiology

Q: Circle the letters next to reliable places someone could go if they wanted to learn more about the reproductive system?

a. Books from the library
b. teacher
c. A classmate
d. School nurse
e. Parent or guardian
f. A friend’s teenage family member
g. A website that has been recommended by a trusted adult (parent/guardian, teacher, school nurse, or doctor, for example).

A: a, b, d, e, g

AP.5.AI.1 Identify medically accurate information about female and male reproductive anatomy.
5 Sexual and Reproductive Anatomy

 

By the End of Grade 5 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Put the following steps for human reproduction that involves only the male, in the correct order:

a. Sperm cells mix with semen
b. Sperm is made in the testicles
c. Sperm exit the testicles and travel up the vas deferens

A: b, c, a

 

Q: Put the following steps for human reproduction that involves only the female, in the correct order:

a. Egg enters the fallopian tube
b. Ovulation occurs (egg is released from ovary around every 25-30 days)
c. Lining of the uterus thickens with blood

A: c, b, a

 

Q: Put the following steps for human reproduction that involve both the male and the female in the correct order:

a. The fertilized egg travels down through the fallopian tube to the uterus
b. Cell attaches to the wall of the uterus (implantation) conception complete
c. One sperm cell attaches to an egg in the fallopian tube and fertilizes it
d. Sperm travel through the cervix, uterus, and into the fallopian tubes
e. If the male & female have sexual intercourse then the penis is inserted into the vagina
f. Pregnancy begins
g. Sperm cells leave the penis and enter the vagina (ejaculation)

A: e, g, d, c, a, b, f

Student should be able make no more than two errors on this question to be successful.
PR.5.CC.1 Describe the process of human reproduction.
5 Sexual and Reproductive Anatomy

 

By the End of Grade 5 | Sexually Transmitted Diseases & HIV

Q: What is HIV?

A: HIV is a virus that is transmitted through bodily fluids and weakens your immune system.

 

Q: What are some ways HIV can be transmitted from one person to another? Circle all that apply:

a. through contact with the blood of someone who is NOT infected with HIV
b. through contact with the blood of someone who IS infected with HIV (including sharing drug needles)
c. through contact with the semen or vaginal fluids of someone who is infected with HIV
d. through hugging someone who is infected with HIV
e. through contact with the tears of someone who is infected with HIV

A: b, c

 

Q: How can someone prevent transmission of HIV?

A: Make sure that any of the bodily fluids that can transmit HIV from a person who is infected with HIV don’t come into contact with a person who is not infected with HIV.

SH.5.CC.1 Define HIV and identify some age-appropriate methods of transmission, as well as ways to prevent transmission.
5 Learning About HIV

 

By the End of Grade 5 | Identity

Q: Define sexual orientation.

A: The gender or genders of the people we feel romantic love and attraction for.

 

Q: Circle the letters next to reliable sources a child could go to to ask questions about sexual orientation.

a. teacher
b. other kids at school
c. A website on the internet found through a google search
d. Parent/guardian or other adult family member
e. librarian
f. movie star who writes a blog

A: a, d, e

ID.5.CC.1 Define sexual orientation as the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender.
ID.5.AI.1 identify parents or other trusted adults of whom students can ask questions about sexual orientation.
5 What Is Love Anyway?

Grade 6-8

By the End of Grade 8 | Personal Safety

Q: Is a person who has been raped or sexually assaulted ever at fault? Why or why not?

A: No. A person who has been sexually assaulted or raped is never at fault no matter what they say, what they wear or where they go. Everyone has the right to their own boundaries—and nobody ever has the right to cross those boundaries without permission.

PS.8.CC.4 Explain why a person who has been raped or sexually assaulted is not at fault.
6 Understanding Boundaries

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Define sexual intercourse and describe how it is related to human reproduction.

A: Sexual intercourse involves a penis going inside a vagina, a penis going inside an anus, or a person’s mouth going on a person’s vulva or penis. When a penis goes inside a vagina, called “vaginal sex,” a pregnancy can occur if semen from the penis enters the vagina.

PR.8.CC.1 Define sexual intercourse and its relationship to human reproduction.
6 Liking and Loving – Now and When I’m Older

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Define sexual abstinence and its connection to pregnancy prevention.

A: Sexual abstinence is not having sexual intercourse until someone is older, or until some other time. Sexual abstinence is the only 100% sure way to avoid getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant.

PR.8.CC.2 Define sexual abstinence as it relates to pregnancy prevention.
6 Liking and Loving – Now and When I’m Older

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Anatomy & Physiology

Q: Use the Female Sexual and Reproductive System Crossword Puzzle homework sheet from grade seven lesson, Everybody’s Got Body Parts Part One and the Male Sexual and Reproductive System Crossword Puzzle homework sheet from grade seven lesson, Everybody’s Got Body Parts Part Two for assessment.

A: Based on the answer keys to the crossword puzzles, students should be able to identify the correct male and female sexual and reproductive systems based on their function with no more than three wrong or missing answers on each homework sheet.

AP.8.CC.1 Students will be able to describe the male and female sexual and reproductive systems including body parts and their functions.
7 Everybody’s Got Body Parts Part One & 7 Everybody’s Got Body Parts Part Two

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Identity

Q: Define Gender identity, Gender Expression, and Sexual Orientation.

A: A person’s gender identity is what they call themselves: male, female, transgender, or something else.

A person’s gender expression is how they let people know the gender they are. that can be by the name they use, the clothes they wear, the pronouns (he, she, they) they use, how they carry themselves, etc.

Sexual orientation is the gender(s) of the people to whom we are attracted, physically and romantically.

ID.8.CC.1 Differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
7 I Am Who I Am

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Were students able to successfully apply a decision-making model to a scenario?

A: Teachers will use the Teacher’s Guide: The Making SMART Choices Model as a measurement of successful application. Students will need to submit their scenarios individually, and be graded accordingly.

PR.8.DM.1 Apply a decision-making model to various sexual health decisions.
7 Making SMART Choices

By the End of Grade 8 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Did students demonstrate that they understood how to communicate assertively with someone else around sexuality?

A: The teacher will need to allocate time for all students to role play in pairs. during these role plays, the teacher will use the definitions given in the lesson for Aggressive, Passive and Assertive communication, and allocate points for each instance of assertive statements and responses.

PR.8.IC.2 Demonstrate the use of effective communication and negotiation skills about the use of contraception including abstinence and condoms.
7 Let’s Talk About Sex

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Topics Pregnancy & Reproduction, Sexually Transmitted Diseases & HIV

Q: Match each of the following three types of communication with its definition:

1. Aggressive
2. Passive
3. Assertivea.

a. When someone says what they want or mean without being hurtful to another person.
b. When someone tries to get what they want by bullying another person into it.
c. When a person is timid or unclear in expressing their needs – or when they won’t speak up about what they want, but just go along with what the other person wants.

A: b, c, a

SH.8.IC.1 Demonstrate the use of effective communication skills to reduce or eliminate risk for STDs, including HIV.
PR.8.IC.2 Demonstrate the use of effective communication and negotiation skills about the use of contraception including abstinence and condoms.
7 Let’s Talk About Sex

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Which contraceptive method is worn on a penis and provides very good protection against both pregnancy and STDs?

a. Diaphragm
b. The pill
c. External condoms
d. Internal condomsA: c

PR.8.CC.3 Explain the health benefits, risks and effectiveness rates of various methods of contraception, including abstinence and condoms.
8 Birth Control Basics

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Which of the following statements about emergency contraception, or Plan B is CORRECT?

a. it is a medicine that is inserted into the vagina 3 hours before penis-vagina sex to prevent pregnancy.
b. it is a medicine that is taken after unprotected vaginal sex to help prevent pregnancy.
c. it is a medicine that can temporarily stop sperm production in order to prevent pregnancy.
d. it is a medicine that makes people no longer feel like having sex.

A: b

PR.8.CC.4 Define emergency contraception and its use.
8 Birth Control Basics

 

By the End of Grade 8 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: All of the following are common mistakes people make when using external condoms, EXCEPT:

a. not checking the expiration date
b. Storing condoms someplace that’s too hot or too cold
c. Putting the condom on wrong side up d. using a fresh condom for every sex act

A: d

PR.8.SM.1/SH.8.SM.1 Describe the steps to using a condom correctly.
8 Using Condoms Effectively

Grade 9-12

By the End of Grade 12 | Identity

Q: What is the difference between gender and sexual orientation?

A: Gender has to do with your sense of yourself as male, female, a combination, or neither. Sexual orientation has to do with the gender(s) of the people to whom we are attracted, physically and romantically.

ID.12.CC.1 Differentiate between biological sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression.
ID.12.INF.1 Analyze the influence of friends, family, media, society and culture on the expression of gender, sexual orientation and identity.
ID.12.CC.2 Distinguish between sexual orientation, sexual behavior and sexual identity.
9 Understanding Gender
11 Gender and Sexual Orientation: Understanding the Difference
9 Sexual Orientation, Behavior and Identity: How I Feel, What I Do and Who I Am

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Puberty & Adolescent Development, Pregnancy & Reproduction, Sexually Transmitted Diseases & HIV

Q: Were students able to successfully apply a decision-making model to a scenario?

A: Teachers will use the Teacher’s Guide: What’s Your Dogma? as a measurement of successful application. Students will need to submit their scenarios individually, and be graded accordingly.

PD.12.DM.1 Apply a decision-making model to various situations relating to sexual health.
PR.12.IC.1 Demonstrate ways to communicate decisions about whether or when to engage in sexual behaviors.
SH.12.DM.1 Apply a decision-making model to choices about safer sex practices, including abstinence and condoms.
9 Decisions, Decisions

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Puberty & Adolescent Development, Pregnancy & Reproduction, Sexually Transmitted Diseases & HIV

Q: What are two STDs that can be cured, and two that cannot?

A: Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis can be cured; HPV (the virus that causes genital warts and can cause cervical cancer), Herpes and HIV cannot, although they can be treated and managed with medication.

SH.12.CC.1 Describe common symptoms of and treatments for STDs, including HIV.
SH.12.CC.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of abstinence, condoms, and other safer sex methods in preventing the spread of STDs, including HIV.
SH.12.AI.2 Access medically-accurate prevention information about STDs, including HIV.
9 STD Smarts

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: Put the following steps to using an external condom in the correct order:

a. Carefully open the condom. no teeth!
b. Pull the condom off, tie the end in a knot to avoid spillage, and throw it in the garbage.
c. Sex act – orgasm and ejaculation.
d. Roll the condom all the way down the penis.
e. Give and obtain consent for having sex.
f. Have more than one condom.
g. Check whether it’s right side up.
h. Gently pinch the tip of the condom to get air out.
i. Place it on the head of an erect penis.
j. Pull the penis out and away from the other person’s body.
k. Check the expiration date.

A: e, f, k, a, g, i, h, d, c, j, b

PR.12.SM.1 Describe the steps to using a condom correctly.
SH.12.SM.2 Describe the steps to using a condom correctly.
9 Creating Condom Confidence

By the End of Grade 12 | Healthy Relationships

Q: match each of the following terms to its definition:

1. Consent
2. Coercion
3. incapacitated

a. When someone said they wanted to do something
b. When a person doesn’t have the ability to do things or say they want to do things, like someone who is asleep, drunk or using drugs
c. When someone gets a person to do something by threatening or forcing them to do it

A: a, c, b

HR.12.CC.3 Define sexual consent and explain its implications for sexual decision-making.
HR.12.INF.2 Analyze factors, including alcohol and other substances, that can affect the ability to give or perceive the provision of consent to sexual activity.
10 Rights, Respect, Responsibility

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Healthy Relationships

Q: TRUE or FALSE: Possessing a sexually explicit image of someone under 18 is a crime – even if the person who receives it is under 18, too.

A: TRUE

 

Q: TRUE or FALSE: If you are under 18, sending a sexually explicit image of yourself to someone else is a crime.

A: TRUE

 

Q: TRUE or FALSE: tricking someone who is under 18 into sending a sexually explicit image is a crime.

A: TRUE

HR.12.SM.2 Describe strategies to use social media safely, legally and respectfully.
10 Using Technology Respectfully and Responsibly

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Pregnancy & Reproduction

Q: All of the following are websites for teenagers that provide medically-accurate, age- and developmentally-appropriate information about sexuality for teens, EXCEPT:

a. www.sexetc.org
a. www.greattowait.com
b. www.scarleteen.com
c. www.itsyoursexlife.org

A: b

PR.12.AI.1 Access medically-accurate information about contraceptive methods, including abstinence and condoms.
PR.12.AI.2 Access medically-accurate information and resources about emergency contraception.
10 Trust It or Trash It? Finding Accurate Sex Ed Info

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Personal Safety

Q: Name the five categories of relationship abuse.

A: Physical, Emotional, Psychological, Sexual and Financial.

 

Q: Put the following abusive behaviors into the appropriate category of relationship abuse:

1. Refusing to practice safer sex
2. Criticizing the person’s appearance or intelligence
3. Threatening to hurt the other person
4. Telling the other person they need to spend time with you instead of going to work
5. Pinching
6. Texting nonstop and expecting the other person to text back by a certain time
7. Restraining
8. Sharing sexy photos of the other person without their consent
9. Threatening to hurt yourself if the other person doesn’t do what you want
10. Pressuring the other person to do something sexual they don’t want to do

A: 1. Sexual 2. Emotional 3. Psychological 4. Financial 5. Physical 6. Psychological 7. Physical 8. Sexual 9. Psychological 10. Sexual

PS.12.CC.1 Compare and contrast situations and behaviors that may constitute bullying, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, incest, rape and dating violence.
11 Is It Abuse If…?

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Personal Safety

Q: Name the five categories of relationship abuse.

A: Physical, Emotional, Psychological, Sexual and Financial.

 

Q: Put the following abusive behaviors into the appropriate category of relationship abuse:

1. Refusing to practice safer sex
2. Criticizing the person’s appearance or intelligence
3. Threatening to hurt the other person
4. Telling the other person they need to spend time with you instead of going to work
5. Pinching
6. Texting nonstop and expecting the other person to text back by a certain time
7. Restraining
8. Sharing sexy photos of the other person without their consent
9. Threatening to hurt yourself if the other person doesn’t do what you want
10. Pressuring the other person to do something sexual they don’t want to do

A: 1. Sexual 2. Emotional 3. Psychological 4. Financial 5. Physical 6. Psychological 7. Physical 8. Sexual 9. Psychological 10. Sexual

PS.12.CC.1 Compare and contrast situations and behaviors that may constitute bullying, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, incest, rape and dating violence.
11 Is It Abuse If…?

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Sexually Transmitted Diseases & HIV

Q: All of the following are reasons why someone might choose to get tested for STDs, EXCEPT:

a. They thought they and their partner were in a monogamous relationship (only having sex with each other) and found out later that their partner was having sex with other people.
b. They started to experience some symptoms and didn’t know if that meant they had an STD.
c. They’re thinking about having sex for the first time and think if they get tested in advance it’ll keep them from getting an STD.
d. Because they were sexually assaulted and need to know whether it resulted in an Std of some kind.

A: c

 

Q: All of the following are reasons why someone might choose NOT to get tested for STDs, EXCEPT:

a. Because they don’t want to know
b. Because they think they can tell whether they have an STD by how they are feeling
c. Because they are worried about the actual test itself being painful or uncomfortable.
d. Because they don’t have insurance or think they can’t afford to get tested.

A: b

SH.12.SM.1 Analyze individual responsibility about testing for and informing partners about STDs and HIV status.
SH.12.ADV.1 Advocate for sexually active youth to get STD/HIV testing and treatment.
12 Getting Savvy about STD testing

 

By the End of Grade 12 | Healthy Relationships

Q: All of the following are reasons why someone might choose to get tested for STDs, EXCEPT:

a. They thought they and their partner were in a monogamous relationship (only having sex with each other) and found out later that their partner was having sex with other people.
b. They started to experience some symptoms and didn’t know if that meant they had an STD.
c. They’re thinking about having sex for the first time and think if they get tested in advance it’ll keep them from getting an STD.
d. Because they were sexually assaulted and need to know whether it resulted in an STD of some kind.

A: c

 

Q: All of the following are possible ways in which viewing sexually-explicit materials can affect a young person’s attitudes about sex and sexuality, EXCEPT:

a. People may expect sex to go a certain way and feel unprepared for or vulnerable when it does not go as expected
b. People may assume that because a person looks a particular way they are more or less sexual
c. People may assume consent from their partner because they may think everyone of their partner’s gender “is like that”
d. People may be more likely to think that they should only have sex if music is playing in the background.

A: d

HR.12.INF.1 Explain how media can influence one’s beliefs about what constitutes a healthy sexual relationship.
12 Getting Savvy about STD testing