Resources – alt

Resources for Youth

  • Stay Teenhttps://stayteen.org/
  • It’s Your (Sex) Lifehttps://www.itsyoursexlife.com/
  • Scarleteenhttps://www.scarleteen.com/
  • Iwannaknowhttps://www.iwannaknow.org/ (also has a section for parents)
  • TeensHealth from Nemourshttps://kidshealth.org/ (also has sections for parents and educators)
  • AMAZE-org
  • ANSWER-https://answer.rutgers.edu
  • Teen mental health information https://teenmentalhealth.org/lear

Resources for Caregivers

  • Manual/materials for hard-to-handle topics https://www.siecus.org/_data/global/images/filling_the_gaps.pdf
    • Includes facts, activities and ideas for how to talk to students about topics including:
      • Abstinence, setting limits, reasons not to have sex
      • Condoms
      • Sexuality and diversity, stereotypes, disability, discrimination, etc.
      • Teen pregnancy, options, abortion, parenting
      • Safer sex, alcohol, dating and courtship, risk reduction
      • Sexual behavior, masturbation, decision-making, sex in our culture
      • Sexual identity and orientation
      • Sexuality and society, gender roles, stereotypes
    • SexualityResource Center for Parents https://www.srcp.org/

There are certain things that all parents need to know about sexual health, and it’s probably best to know these things before you start answering your child’s questions about sexual health or responding to their behaviors that seem sexual in nature. There are sections with information for parents of children with typical development, parents of children with developmental disabilities, and parents of children with physical disabilities.

  • Common Sense Media |https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
  • ANSWER-https://answer.rutgers.edu
    • Answer believes parents are the most important sexual health educators for their children. It can be tough to talk about sexual health with your own children. Answer is here to help by providing links to books, organizations, web sites, and workshops that can support you in this critical role. There are lots of resources that can help you become more comfortable and confident talking with your children. Your children want to hear from you, so talk early and talk often.
  • Teen mental health information https://teenmentalhealth.org/learn/
    • With topics including:
      • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
      • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
      • Bipolar Disorder
      • Generalized Anxiety Disorder
      • Social Anxiety Disorder
      • Panic Disorder
      • Schizophrenia
      • Depression
      • Brain Injury
      • Suicide
      • Healthy Sleep
      • Self-Injury/Self-Harm

Resources for Parents as Sex Educators

This section of Advocates for Youth’s web site contains all of the information and resources you need to begin talking with your children about sexual health.

iwannaknow—Aims to give parents the tools they need to teach their children about sexual health. Sexual health is not just about sex–it includes the roles, behaviors and values people associate with being a man or a woman. Educating a child about sexual health is an important part of his or her healthy development. Their early understanding of sex, love, intimacy and their own sexuality can help mold their values, behavior, and even their self-image, for a lifetime. https://www.iwannaknow.org/parents/overview.html

  • Louisiana Public Health Institute https://lphi.org/work/family-health/
    • Includes information about LPHI’s programs related to programs related to building community capacity around primary care, behavioral health, reproductive and sexual health services and social service provision.

Resources for Educators

  • The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancyhttps://thenationalcampaign.org/
  • cahttps://teachers.teachingsexualhealth.ca/teaching-tools/

—Prepare yourself to learn about your values, myths and facts, comprehensive sexual health education, how to manage diversity in the classroom, and how to manage sensitive issues. Prepare your class to set the tone of covering this topic with ground rules, characteristics of a healthy teen, and how to evaluate sexual health resources. Prepare parents and the community to create support, how to notify parents, and suggested parent letters in many languages. The instructional methods section provides many different strategies you can build into your lesson plans like role play, classroom discussion, small group, digital media, using the question box, and responding to questions. There are many examples of student questions that have already been answered. https://teachers.teachingsexualhealth.ca/teaching-tools/

  • SexEd Libraryhttps://www.sexedlibrary.org/

—SexEdLibrary is the most comprehensive online sexual health education resource in the United States. Sexual health is like no other subject in our educational system today. Not only should the content be up to date and relevant, but the tools with which you teach it can be as important as the information itself. SexEdLibrary is designed to give you all of that—and more. SexEdLibrary is brought to you by SIECUS (the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States), a highly acclaimed resource for educators, counselors, administrators, and health professionals seeking the latest in sexual health research, lesson plans, and professional development opportunities. SIECUS has analyzed hundreds of lesson plans from multiple sources to offer easy access to the very best on such topics as sexual and reproductive health, puberty, abstinence, relationships, sexual orientation, body image, self-esteem, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, unintended pregnancy, and more. Sexual health is among life’s most critical lessons. Arm them well with the right information and make a lifetime of difference starting today.

  • ResourceCenter for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (ReCAPP) from ETRhttps://recapp.etr.org/recapp/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.educatorskillshome

Effective sexual health education programs require that educators employ a variety of teaching methods designed to involve youth and have them personalize the information and skills presented in the program. The Skills for Educators section of ReCAPP focuses on important educator skills that will enhance the implementation of a pregnancy prevention program. Each strategy includes a description of the instructional strategy and its components and tips for using the strategy effectively.

  • Lesson plans https://www.futureofsexed.org/lessonplans.html
  • Answer: sex ed, honestly—Answer believes that sexual health educators and other youth-serving professionals are important to young people’s health. Sexual health can be a challenging subject to teach. Answer provides online workshops, webinars, lesson plans, and other resources that can support educators in this critical role. There are a lot of resources that can help educators become more comfortable and confident talking with youth about sexual health. The youth that look up to you are looking for answers, so talk early and talk often. https://answer.rutgers.edu/page/resources

Sex Education Resource Center—Sexual health educators play a vital role in providing young people with information they need to protect their health and futures. Whether you are someone new to the field of sexual health education or trying to stay abreast of the latest effective programs and resources, Advocates for Youth can help. Explore the Sex Ed Center for lesson plans, curricula, national standards, and state legislation. https://advocatesforyouth.org/serced?task=view

  • Working to Institutionalize Sex Ed (WISE) -https://wisetoolkit.org/

Through the course of the Working to Institutionalize Sex Ed (WISE) Initiative, the “WISE Method,” an iterative, dynamic approach to implementing sexual health education, emerged from the experience of the organizations participating in WISE. Informal sharing of successes, resources and tools led to the creation of the WISE Toolkit, which can be utilized by a larger community of practitioners. It is practice-based, rather than evidence-based, and does not aim to include every possible resource related to sex ed. Rather, it includes tools and practices successfully utilized by the organizations participating in WISE.

Resources for Policymakers

  • Sexuality Information & Education Council of the United States-  https://www.siecus.org/
  • Why sex education matters https://wisetoolkit.org/why-sex-ed
  • Future of Sex Education (FOSE) -https://www.futureofsexed.org/index.html

Other Resources

 

Get involved