Ninth Grade Family Life Education (FLE)

Emotional and Social Health

Instructional Objectives

Students will identify the family as a basic unit of society and his or her responsibility as a member of the family.

Descriptive Statement:Topics may include the function of the family, different types of families, family strengths, family influences on society, identification of roles within a family, and how those roles change throughout life. Students will compare and contrast their roles now with their possible roles in the future.

Students will identify types of abuse and exploitation and identify prevention strategies and resources for help.

Descriptive Statement: Topics will include emotional, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, human (teen sex) trafficking, and sexting. Prevention strategies will include Internet safety and personal safety in the community. Resources for help will include talking with a trusted adult (parent/guardian, school personnel, health care provider, and religious leader) and community resources (support groups, law enforcement).

Students will identify examples and effects of sexual violence and identify skills to promote safety and situational awareness. Resources for help and reporting sexual violence will be provided.

Descriptive Statement: Discussion will include identifying types of and providing examples of sexual violence, bystander awareness, situational awareness, and intervention strategies. Resources for help and reporting can include parents/guardians, school personnel, religious leaders, health care providers, and community resources will be provided.

Students will identify characteristics of, and how to develop and maintain, healthy relationships in a variety of settings.

Descriptive Statement:Students will identify different types of relationships they may be a part of as a high school students including family, friendship, partner or dating, team member, or as an employee. Characteristics of healthy relationships such as positive communication, active listening, trust, and honesty will be presented. Conflict resolution skills will be reviewed and how to apply conflict resolution skills will be discussed and practiced.

Students will define pornography and identify implications for healthy relationships.

Descriptive Statement: Pornography will be defined and discussed as it relates to healthy relationships, personal boundaries, and consent.

Students will identify the short- and long-term consequences of recording, possessing, sharing, and distributing sexually explicit media.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include potential present and future social, emotional, educational, and legal implications. Distribution of sexually explicit media includes texting, social media, and other means of communication.

Students will identify characteristics of unhealthy relationships and identify strategies to navigate or end unhealthy relationships.

Descriptive Statement:Characteristics of unhealthy relationships may include coercive behavior, coercive language, abuse of power, and controlling or unrealistic expectations of the other person. Instruction will include the impact of drug and alcohol use on understanding consent and the ability to give or withdraw consent. Students will understand that impairment does not absolve them of responsibility for actions that violate others. Students will practice strategies and skills needed when navigating or ending a relationship. Instruction will include accepting others’ relationship decisions, accepting boundaries, and what to do if someone does not respect your decision to end a relationship. Strategies to safely navigate, end, or leave a relationship and resources available for help will be discussed.

Students will explain the value of setting personal boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others and will define affirmative consent.

Descriptive Statement:Students will investigate strategies to establish and maintain personal boundaries. Affirmative consent will be defined. The concept that boundaries may shift based on the relationships will be discussed. Students will be able to identify when consent is given and when it is absent, and will understand that an individual has the ability to withdraw consent as it relates to intimacy and sexual behavior, and their responsibility to respect the other person’s decision. Discussion will include that some situations involving intimate or sexual behaviors may become uncomfortable or unwanted, in the moment or afterwards, whether or not affirmative consent is given. Students will identify resources and strategies, aligned with characteristics of healthy relationships, to address student concerns and support students well-being in the event of uncomfortable or unwanted intimate or sexual experiences. Such strategies will include encouraging students to talk with a trustworthy individual about the experience for support, how to withdraw consent in the moment, and respect for withdrawal of consent. Students shall also receive instruction with regards to respect for a partner who declines to provide affirmative consent for intimate and sexual behavior consented to in a prior situation and experience.

Students will recognize development of sexuality as a lifelong aspect of personality.

Descriptive Statement:Instruction will include that individuals are sexual beings from birth to death and that sexuality evolves from infancy to old age.  Sexual orientation terms heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual; and the gender identity term transgender will be defined.  Students with questions or concerns about their sexual orientation or gender identity will be advised to talk with a parent or other trusted adults, such as members of clergy and health care providers. Emphasis will be placed on tolerance and nondiscrimination of all people.

Media

"Bystander Intervention: Putting a Stop to Sexual Assault" - Human Relations Media, 21 minutes (2017)

This video dramatizes the Kitty Genovese case in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. When observers do not step in to stop an assault it is called the Bystander Effect. This video explains the basics and principles of bystander intervention.

Using dramatizations viewers are taught three ways to stop a sexual assault:

• Intervene directly.
• Create a distraction.
• Call for help from others nearby.

Real teens who have intervened in attempted sexual assaults talk about how they followed the principles and stopped an attempted sexual assault.

"Tricked: Inside the World of Teen Sex Trafficking" - Fairfax Network, 8:42 minutes (2014)

Avoiding Risky Behaviors: Tips on how you can protect yourself – both in public and online - from becoming a victim of sex trafficking.

Human Growth and Development

Instructional Objectives

Students will review the structures and functions of the male and female reproductive systems and explain the process of fertilization.

Descriptive Statement:Instruction will include human reproductive anatomy, physiology, conception, ovulation, and fertilization.

Students will describe pregnancy and birth and analyze factors associated with a healthy pregnancy.

Descriptive Statement:Instruction will include signs and symptoms of pregnancy, stages of pregnancy, fetal development, stages of childbirth, and birthing options. Topics will include preconception and prenatal care, and effects of substance use on pregnancy and fetal development. Instruction will include roles of the mother and father during pregnancy and birth. Community resources for pregnancy testing and further information are identified.

Students will identify sexual abstinence as the appropriate choice for adolescents and identify appropriate methods for expressing feelings and affection. 

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include benefits of choosing sexual abstinence, consequences of sexual activity, and appropriate methods for expressing feelings and affection. Students will learn that anyone who has been sexually active can make a new decision for premarital abstinence. Instruction will include effective strategies for abstinence, maintaining respect for self and others such as communication, assertiveness, and recognition of personal boundaries.

Students will examine methods of contraception.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include barrier, hormonal, and surgical contraceptive methods; identification of effectiveness for prevention of pregnancy and minimizing risk of sexually transmitted infection; and misconceptions regarding contraception. Abstinence will be emphasized as the only 100% effective method for preventing pregnancy and the most effective method for preventing sexually transmitted infection.

Students will review information about bacterial, viral, and parasitic sexually transmitted infections to include prevention, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include review of bacterial, viral, and parasitic STIs; and prevention, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment.  Community resources for testing and treatment will be identified.  Abstinence from sexual activity will be presented as the most effective method for prevention of sexually transmitted infections.  Abstinence from intravenous drug use and use of condoms and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (HIV prevention) as means of prevention will also be presented.

Media

From Conception to Birth, Discovery School, 2006. (25 minutes)

This newly updated program begins by reviewing the reproductive systems of both men and women and then provides viewers with information about modern birth control options. Through helpful vignettes and medical guidance, the program discusses the forms and functions of the major types of birth control: male and female barrier methods, monthly hormonal contraception, progestin-only methods, intrauterine contraception, sterilization, abstinence, and emergency contraception. Viewers will appreciate this straightforward presentation, which empowers them to take control of their bodies and their futures.