Program outlines
WAIT (Why Am I Tempted?) Training—7th, 8th and 9th grade: WAIT is based on a relationship model of sexuality education. Though the abstracts and objectives stay the same per grade level, the lesson plan, filled with eye and brain catching visuals, interactive lessons and stories, encourages students to embrace and care for their sexual health.
Day 1: Rapport Building
This first day is crucial in establishing a rapport with the students. Presenters avoid jumping into the curriculum on the first day. Students will receive an introduction to the program—a list of content and expectations that establishes the necessary classroom climate. Along with that, students will be led in an object lesson / get-to-know-you games. The basic goal of this day is to let the kids know that this will be unlike any guest-speaker presentation they have ever attended and to whet their appetites for more.
Days 2 & 3: STDs
During this lesson, students will develop a better understanding of what sexual activity is, how STIs are transmitted, and how diseases move through a population, as well as information on 7 specific STIs—chlamydia, gonorrhea, human papillomavirus, herpes, syphilis, hepatitis B and HIV. In order to keep the lesson age-appropriate, no slides will be shown in 7th or 8th graders. Instead, students will view visual aids that give them the basic idea without exposing them to unsightly pictures of diseased genitalia. In the 9th grade setting, boys and girls will be separated to view the Medical Institute STI slides. They will also discuss the positive and negative effects of teens using different contraception methods for pregnancy and STI prevention as stated by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Day 4: Emotional Consequences
During this lesson, students will discuss the myth of no-consequence casual sex. Students will also explore the media’s affect on their ideas about sex and relationships. Students will be asked to make their own discoveries concerning the power of TV, movies and songs when it comes to their perception of love, infatuation, marriage and sex.
Day 5: Intimacy/Sexual Boundaries
During this presentation, students will gain tools to avoiding sexual pressure, showing that sexual abstinence until marriage has practical applications. Students will also explore the idea that true intimacy cannot be manufactured by physical expression, but that it takes time to build intimacy. The student will be offered the chance, with the parents or guardians, to set goals for their future relationships and boundaries of helping to achieve those goals.
Day 6: Dating
Students will explore different dating styles (single, double, and group), as well as their personal expectations of someone with whom they choose to spend time. They will discuss the reasons for dating, the goals for dating and how to have the best, safest, and most enjoyable dates.
Day 7: Love and Marriage
Students will discuss the idea that abstinence and all it entails, is designed to prepare on for marriage built on love and trust. They will recognize that the choices they make now will affect all of their future relationships. They will discuss how all decisions have consequences and how to best reach the personal goals they have set for their marriages/relationships. Students will discuss the differences between lust, infatuation, and love and how the discernment between these words will greatly affect their dating and marriage happiness.
Day 8: Assertiveness Training
Students will discuss the importance of setting boundaries and dealing with face-to-face sexual temptation and pressure. Students will role-play different scenarios to help them decide on, and set, their boundaries. Dating violience prevention will be strongly addressed.
Day 9: Abstinence until Marriage
Students will discuss the benefits of delaying sex until they are in a mutually monogamous marriage relationship. They will define abstinence as a lifestyle choice and discuss what strategies are necessary to maintain the choice. Students will discuss how their future goals will be affected by a non-marital teen pregnancy or the contracting of an STI.
Day 10: The Wrap-Up
On this day, students will take an exit survey, and will receive an opportunity to ask questions pertaining to the previous discussion. They will be encouraged to maintain their sexual health through regular reevaluation of their sexual health choice, through STI testing and screening if they have already been sexually active, and to maintain a support system that encourages their individual decisions.