j----_. - New York Civil Liberties Union

Mahopac 359
(
A Family Life Approach to
AIDS Instruction
c_
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AIDS instruction takes place within a comprehensive
health education program. Such a program should
include a segment on family life education, as recommended
by the Health Education Syllabus: Grades K-12,
and would incorporate instruction in appreciating the
role of the family in society, and in preparing each
member for the responsibilities of family membership
and adulthood, including marriage and parenthood.
In the absence of a family life education guide, some
of the program objectives and learner outcomes of a
family life education program have been partially integrated
into this guide. The AIDS Instructional Guide:
Grades K-12 provides lessons that explore:
• family structure
• roles and responsibilities of family members
• responsibilities for exploring sound interpersonal
relationships
• characteristics of nurturing families
• sexual relationships.
The guide also deals with the values of respect for self
and others and responsibility to self and others. The
early grades focus on recognizing responsibilities of
family members; in the middle grades the focus shifts
to responsibilities toward others; and the upper grades
stress the validity of peer relationships while recognizing
abstinence from premarital sexual activity as the appropriate
behavior for students.
Sex is not simply a form of stimulation and personal
enjoyment, but carries with it both risk and responsibility.
Abstinence is a lifestyle that affords greater opportunities
for emotional, psychological and educational
growth:
Advantages
of Abstinence
• free from pregnancy and venereal disease
• free from the bother and dangers of the pill, IUD,
and other contraceptives
• free from pressure to marry before you are ready
• free from abortion
• free from the trauma of having to give your baby
up for adoption
G free from exploitation by others
• free from guilt, doubt, disappointment, worry,
rejection
• free to be in control of your life
• free to focus energy on establishing and reà1izing
life goals
• free to develop a respect for self
.. free to develop an unselfish sensitivity