Smart & Good High Schools - The Flippen Group

CHAPTER 5: Fostering the 8 Strengths of Character—Outcome 6use. (A Best Men curriculum has since been implementedfor boys.) Girls in grades 5-9 complete a curriculum; ingrades 10-12 they participate in a Best Friends supportgroup. Best Friends was initially piloted in Washington,D.C. and later replicated in more than a dozen otherurban areas. The program set out to do what many educatorsconsidered nearly impossible: get inner-city girls notto have sex with their boyfriends despite strong pressuresfrom their peer culture that encouraged early sexualactivity and childbearing.Girls in Best Friends pledge to stay away from sex, drugs,and drinking through their school years. The value of aneducation is emphasized; participants learn to set andpursue educational goals. They also take classes that teachthem how to avoid drugs, stay fit, say no to theirboyfriends, practice modesty, and distinguish a goodfriend from a not-so-good friend. They do communityservice together. They develop bonds, a positive identity,and habits of sexual self-discipline—all with the supportof a peer culture developed around these shared goals.Girls in Best Friends were more thansix times less likely to have sex thannon-participating peers.Research reported in a 2005 issue of Adolescent and FamilyHealth finds that junior high school girls in the BestFriends program, compared to non-participating peers inthe D.C. public schools, are:◆ more than six times less likely to have sex◆ two times less likely to use alcohol◆ eight times less likely to use drugs◆ more than two times less likely to smoke. 28An evaluation of Best Men by an independent researchgroup found that eighth-grade boys participating in theprogram, compared to their non-participating peers,were:◆ 33% less likely to use drugs◆ 22% less likely to use alcohol◆ 20% less likely to have sex. 29These programs, representative of many abstinence andcharacter education curricula that begin in middleschool, point to the importance of not waiting until thehigh school years to foster internal convictions and peernorms that support sexual self-discipline. But even at thehigh school level, we should view the peer sexual cultureas something that is malleable, open to being influencedin a positive direction by a well-designed intervention.(See the Peers Project, www.peersproject.org, which hashigh school-age peer mentors teach a character developmentand abstinence curriculum to students ages 12-18.)Consider the Emotional Dimensionsof SexualityThe emotional dimensions of sex are what make it distinctivelyhuman. A character-centered approach tohuman sexuality will help young people understand whysex is most emotionally safe and fulfilling within a trulycommitted love relationship and why it is emotionallyrisky outside one.The emotional dimensions of sex arewhat make it distinctively human.Young people need help in naming and appreciating thevarious negative psychological consequences that cancome from temporary, uncommitted sexual relationships.One effective way to convey these consequences isthrough true stories from the lives of teens. Said one veteranhealth educator: “A lot of kids will turn you off whenyou talk about pregnancy and disease, but they respondto stories of the heart.”The box on page 169 describes five emotional dangers ofpremature sexual involvement. For adolescents, understandingthese psychological consequences can help tomotivate sexual self-discipline—both to avoid getting hurtand to avoid hurting someone else. (A chapter from CharacterMatters, “Talking to Kids About Sex, Love, and Character,”that provides a fuller discussion of 10 emotionaldangers of premature sex can be found on our Center’swebsite, www.cortland.edu/character under“Resources/Books and Publications.”)Our most powerful sex organ is ourbrain.—MOLLY KELLY168Smart & Good High Schools